European imperial ambitions spread to the Orient.

Sanctioning this, the Roman Catholic

Church played umpire to disputing nations by subdividing their playing fields. By that, the
Philippines should not have been Spanish territory if not for Ferdinand Magellan chancing
upon it in 1521 and by Miguel Lopez Legaspi's establishment of government in 1565.
After them, the islands fell under Spanish suzerainty for more than three centuries.

Spain restructured the Filipino's lives in terms of politics, economics, religion and
culture. This hispanization pervaded even the musical and choreographic practices of the
people. Dances took on the tempo and temper of the European forms. For example, the
noted Tinikling (which has had some Southeast Asian beginnings) and the Itik-itik (rustic
and imitative like the other dances) acquired the tempo of the jota and the polka. Down
to the research of Francisca Reyes Aquino, dances that did not have Western harmony
were provided melodic accessibility, as in Pandanggo sa Ilaw and Subli.

Aside from modifying ritual, occupational and imitative dances, the Spaniards
brought in their own dances. The most popular was the jota, later taking on numerous
regional variations. Another was the fandango that was re-styled as pandanggo -- a
dance that was once prescribed in Spain by Rome, it rivaled the jota in popularity. A step
so common in many dances is the waltz, such as that found in the Cariñosa, Sayaw Santa
Isabel, etc. In that way, the blase proliferated in dances for religious feasts, wedding and
other social occasions. Still others were the paseo and the pateado (from zapateado).

From Cuba, the habanera with its syncopated interest and finding roots in many
regions such as Pangasinan, Ilocos, Zambales, Capiz, etc. Outside of the direct Spanish
territory came the Polish mazurka, the Czech polka, the Scottish schottische (renamed
as escotis), and the French quadrille dances, like the rigaudon (turned into rigodon), pas
de quatre (into pasakat) and lancers (into lanceros).

Intensively, the Filipinos combined several of these dances, so that

the Polkabal and the Jotabal are noted examples. The Surtido is also one such invention,
coming out in several regions.

With the brief presence of the British (owing to the Seven Years War,
between 1762 and 1764) and their economic investments, there is such a dance as
the Ba-Ingles. With the coming of the Americans, there was the Birginia, off the famous
reel in America.

With the Catholic Church, ritual were Christianized as witnessed in the Bate (a
waltz dance at Easter), the many pastores (shepherds dancing around at Christmas
time), or the Sayaw sa Obando whiz is a waltz or pandanggo to plead for a wanted
husband or child.

Spanish music-theater further popularized the European dances. The zarzuela

(and the opera) had actresses who were also singers and dancers. Poet Flavio Zaragosa
Cano praised the diva Patrocinio Carvajal (daughter of Patrocinio Tagaroma) as "Diosa
del Baile." Other famous figures were Praxedes "Yeyeng" Fernandez (noted for
her pandanggo and the condemned can-can in Pascual Bailon), Venancia Suzarra,
Juana "Titay" Molina, Eulalia "Lalyang" Hernandez, Concepcion Cananea ("the songbird
of Cebu") and to our time, Honorata "Atang" de la Rama.

A noted troupe of young dancers was formed by the Italian maestro Appiani. His
Compania Infantil de Baile performed standard European dances in his choreographic
mode.

Many of these dances would have been obscured with the influx of American
influence at the turn of the Century. But with the pioneering research of Francisca Reyes
Aquino and her followers, may of these dances were revived and documented. Starting
at the University of the Philippines under the presidency of Jorge Bocobo, Aquino went
out into the field and renewed the life of these dances through a folk dance group. This
group was later followed by many others in the universities, such as Far Eastern
University, University of the East, Philippine Women's University (Bayanihan Philippine
Dance Company), Philippine Normal University (Baranggay Folk Dance Troupe), and in
today's Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group, Leyte Kalipayan Dance Troupe, U.P. Filipiniana
Dance Troupe, and so many others throughout the islands. From out of these schools
and private groups (like Obusan's or the defunct Filipinescas Dance Company of National
Artist Leonor Orosa Goquingco), these European dances, modified by the needs and
style of the Filipinos, were further seen in the rest of Asia, Australia, Europe, Russia and
the Americans.

Meanwhile, Aquino's volumes on these dances (and those of her followers) are
still prime references for these troupes and in dance instruction in schools in the
Philippines.