Dancing for the Santo Niño

The Ati-atihan is the Philippines’ original answer to the Mardi Gras in New Orleans and the Carnivale in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For man is homo festivus, always looking for a reason to rejoice. The Ati-Atihan is strictly audience-participation only. The people not only dance in the streets, the streets dance with the people. Visitors to the celebration undergo two changes: first, they become of the Ati-Atihan; and second, they become the Ati-Atihan.

There are several versions of the origin of the Ati-Atihan (held every third Sunday of January) in Kalibo, Aklan. All agree that the name is derived from the name of the Atis, the aboriginal Negritos of Panay. The inspiration though for the Ati-Atihan did not come from the aboriginal Negritos, but from a victory over the Moros. Instead, the Negritos and their dances merely furnished the motif for the celebration.

The Spanish Empire had a program of gathering scattered populations together into compact towns; this had a side-effect of making them attractive targets for Moro raiders. It became obvious that the settlements, if they wished to survive, must defend themselves. The Ati-Atihan began in a fortified cannon fort named Santo Nino, in the harbor of Capiz in Panay. Shortly before dawn, a fleet of Moro ships was sighted in the Batan Bay, to which the cry “There are Moros on the coast! The Christians to the church!” went up. In those days, the church served the dual purpose of a house of worship and a fortress. The Moros attacked and, invoking the namesake of the fort, the defenders retaliated and won. The townspeople gathered around the victorious defenders shouting, “Viva Santo Nino! Viva Santo Nino!”. The Ati-Atihan is an extension of that moment and to this day, the cry of the Ati-Atihan is “Hala Bira!” — to strike a blow.

Dinagyang is Iloilo’s answer to the Ati-atihan. Held a week after the Ati-Atihan, it is basically a spectacular costume parade, set against elements of its elder relative. The Dinagyang’s roots though do not have the same spontaneous quality of the Ati-Atihan; it is a carefully choreographed and practiced parade. Tourists and parade-goers are more spectators rather than participants.

When Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines, he presented the Santo Nino to Hara Amihan, wife of Rajah Humabon, as a baptismal gift. She took the name Queen Juana in honor of King Carlos I’s mother Juana. Upon being presented with the Santo Nino she spontaneously began to dance the first Sinulog. The Sinulog (held the third week of January) is a young fiesta, first held in 1980. At its core the fiesta celebrates and commemorates Queen Juana’s dance: reflected in dances showing Queen Juana cradling the Santo Nino in her arms and blessing her people to ward off evil spirits. It also invokes the re-discovery of the Santo Nino by the Basques Friar Andres de Urdaneta, OSA and Don Miguel de Legazpi. When they arrived, they found the natives dancing, no longer in honor of the anitos, but in reverence to the Santo Nino. Dance is the first expression of humanity’s connection to the natural and supernatural. It remains our best expression of joyousness and connection to the rhythm of the world and the supernatural. The Sinulog is a celebration of the link between the Philippines’ pagan past with the Christian present.

Only a human can dream of being a butterfly and wake up wondering if he was dreaming a butterfly’s dream. We are homo fantasia: born with the ability to dream and imagine and see beyond the looking glass. This is the core of the Ati-atihan and the other Santo Nino celebrations: unfettered human imagination and unleashed inhibition. The Ati-Atihan is a surrealistic display, a spectacle born of each individual participant. It is the Mad Hatter’s homage to the Santo Nino. And its offspring, the Dinagyang and the Sinulog, take place in the same Wonderland.