Cariñosa

Cariñosa is a Philippine couple dance described as "of colonial-era origin from the Maria Clara suite of Philippine folk dances," in which a fan or handkerchief "plays an instrumental role as it places the couple in a romance scenario" [1]. This page is PARTIAL: the only source read for it is a Wikipedia article that is itself flagged as needing more citations, and most of what follows is marked as uncited where it is.

The name The name comes from the Spanish adjective cariñoso, "loving or affectionate" [1].

Origins Wikipedia says the dance originated on Panay Island and was introduced by the Spanish during colonization, and relates it to the Spanish bolero and the Mexican jarabe tapatío; none of these statements carries a citation [1]. No source consulted dates the dance, and this page states no date.

The dance The hide-and-seek between partners, played with the fan or handkerchief, is the core of the dance [1]. Wikipedia reports, from Francisca Reyes-Aquino's Philippine Folk Dances, Volume 2, that the Bicol Region has its own version in which "the hide and seek movement is done in a different way": the dancers use two handkerchiefs and no fan [1]. That book was not read for this page, so the Bicol version is cited at second hand.

Music Wikipedia gives the accompaniment as the rondalla, the time signature as 3/4 and the tempo as moderato, all in its infobox and none with a citation [1]. This page therefore states no meter or tempo as sourced.

Attire Wikipedia says the dance was originally performed in the María Clara gown and the barong tagalog, and that other Filipino dress may be worn; the passage is uncited [1].

Not the national dance The cariñosa is widely called the national dance of the Philippines. It is not an official one. Wikipedia, citing the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Reinerio A. Alba, "In Focus: Official National Symbols of the Philippines," August 28, 2009), states that it "is not considered to be an official national dance of the Philippines, as no law has designated them as such" [1]. In 2014 Representative Rene Relampagos filed House Bill No. 3926 to give the cariñosa that status, and the bill did not become law (Wikipedia, citing the House of Representatives record of the bill) [1]. The NCCA page and the bill text could not be retrieved for this page, so both are cited at second hand.

Uncertainties - The Panay origin, the Spanish introduction and the bolero and jarabe connections are uncited. - No sourced meter, tempo or date of origin. - The costume description is uncited. - Every statement here rests on one Wikipedia article; a dance-ethnography source should replace it.

Sources [1] Wikipedia, "Cariñosa." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cari%C3%B1osa - read 2026-11-13. Its references cited at second hand here: Reinerio A. Alba, "In Focus: Official National Symbols of the Philippines," National Commission for Culture and the Arts, August 28, 2009; Philippine House of Representatives, House Bill No. 3926 (16th Congress); Francisca Reyes-Aquino, Philippine Folk Dances, Volume 2 (named in the text, not footnoted).