Pastor Ed Lapiz Day by Day Ministries Cultural Redemption
The Soul of the Filipino in Dance
The Redemption of Dance for Christian Worship
BY: PASTOR ED LAPIZ
There are matters concerning bodily movements in Christian worship that might as well lead to the ultimate question: To dance or not to dance?
To clap or not to clap? To raise hands or not to raise hands?
To kneel or not to kneel?
ED LAPIZ
Pastor Ed Lapiz is the founder and Artistic and Dance Director of KALOOB Philippine Music and Dance Ministry. Read more
Decolonizing Christianity
The culture of Philippine Christianity is very predominantly foreign in essence and form. This phenomenon is rooted largely on the country’s colonial history.
One mighty tool that the Lord uses to catalyze this rebirth and renewal is KALOOB: Philippine Music and Dance Ministry. Founded and led by this writer, KALOOB is a group of enthusiasts committed to the research, redemption and promotion of indigenous culture for use in Christian evangelization and worship. KALOOB means “gift” or “revelation.”
Members of this ministry believe that one of God’s greatest gifts to the Filipino people is music and dance, and that their expression can comprise the Filipino’s profound offerings to Jesus. They also believe that the ministry of cultural redemption is a revealed calling from God.
Spain propagated Roman Catholicism during its rule in the Philippines from the 16th through the 19th centuries. America brought Protestantism when it occupied the country from 1899 to 1946. The result is Christianity wearing a western colonial face. With every step that Christianity took forward, Philippine indigenous culture was pushed backward to the extent that successful evangelization had become almost equated with the destruction of native culture and identity. Can Christianity only live if indigenous culture dies? Must an indigenous person be stripped of identity and be westernized to become a true Christian? Is western culture, propagated through colonialism, geopolitics, globalization or “evangelization” the only acceptable culture for the Christian church? The answer can only be NO! In the Philippines, an exciting move of the Holy Spirit is decolonizing Christianity and setting the indigenous peoples to be free; to be Christians and yet remain or return to being indigenous.
During the Spanish regime, the upper class was the principalia. They had the time and means for cultural refinement and leisure.
A YouTube user uploads footage from the movie King David but replaces the original soundtrack with the song, “Dance like David Danced.”
More than three centuries of inculcation by Spain and the Filipino’s prominent instinct to rebel against the foreigner has created a form of pagan catholicism that is so distinct, it is unrecognizable to many Catholics abroad. Image by Jesslee Cuizon.
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Pastor Ed Lapiz Day by Day Ministries Cultural Redemption
While the insignia of KALOOB can be taken as a graphic representation of a person dancing, it is actually an ancient Tagalog script for the syllable “KA”. The point above it gives it the form of a dancing person. In the Filipino language, “KA” connotes a sharing that promotes oneness. KALOOB uses dance to promote a unified understanding of a diverse culture. Integral to the mission and vision is the establishment of a true Filipino identity that is defined by a solid cultural heritage.
