Rising After the Storm: Interweaving Indigenous Philippine Dance and Music and Western Classical Music for Recovery and Wellbeing

Article Information

Creative Arts Educ Ther (2017) 3(2):47–59DOI: 10.15212/CAET/2017/3/6

Rising After the Storm: Interweaving Indigenous Philippine Dance and Music and Western Classical Music for Recovery and Wellbeing

暴风雨后的崛起：交织菲律宾本土舞蹈、音乐和西方古典音乐以期康复和健康

Gina Alfonso

Cartwheel Foundation, Philippines

Abstract

Long-term recovery programs for the survivors of typhoon Haiyan – as it struck the Philippines in 2013 – were inevitably characterized by a convergence of Eastern and Western approaches to health and wellness due to the sectors involved in the process. Local community volunteers and local/international non-profit organizations joined forces to offer socio-emotional support to over 100 families of Tagbanua heritage on three islands in the area of Culion, Palawan, Philippines. This paper presents the blending of Eastern and Western perspectives on post-traumatic symptoms, on well-being and on the human condition. The combined spirit of compassion and bayanihan (a Filipino term for togetherness in common effort) shared by the relief workers and the Tagbanua is also described. Narratives about the unexpected discovery of inherent indigenous ways of coping through dance – and a therapeutic encounter that involved a dialogue between Tagbanua and Western classical music – are highlighted as examples of the interweaving of art-based healing practices from the East and West which contributed towards recovery and the restoration of health.

摘要

关于曾在2013年袭击菲律宾的台风海燕幸存者的长期康复计划，不可避免地表现为东西方健康和福祉方法的融合，这是由于该计划涉及了这些内容。当地社区志愿者和当地/国际非营利组织联合向菲律宾巴拉望和库利昂地区三个岛上的100多个塔格巴努亚土著家庭提供心理支持。本文介绍了东西方对创伤后症状、健康状况和人类状况影响的观点，并描述了救援人员和塔格巴努亚人分享共情和Bayanihan （菲律宾语共同和协力之意）的精神。关于通过舞蹈应对，这种固有的土著方式的意外发现以及涉及塔格巴努亚与西方古典音乐之间对话的治疗性相遇的叙述突出显示了东西方艺术为基础的针对康复和福祉的健康治疗实践相互交织的案例。