Sorsogon holds a Guinness World Record for largest folk dance of courtship

The Pantomina dancers interpret the sinalampati-style dance in the streets of Sorsogon City, which bag the first Guinness World Record for the Largest Filipino Folk Dance. Sorsogon Provincial Tourism Office

SORSOGON CITY---The traditional courtship dance known locally as Pantomina sa Tinampo clinched a spot for Sorsogon province in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the biggest and largest Filipino folk dance performed in a single venue last October 31, this year.

This was learned from Swapnil Dangarikar of India, the official adjudicator from GWR who witnessed the historic dance popularized in the province of Sorsogon during the celebration of the province’s Kasanggayahan Festival.

More than a hundred years ago, Pantomina became part of marriage ceremony. After the marriage ceremony, the couple would dance Pantomina which remains popular, especially in remote areas during the conduct of various occasions like family reunions and birthdays.

Exactly 7,127 people participated in the 30-minute “Pantomina sa Tinampo” (folk dance on the street) on Thursday to make the record for largest number of participants in a Filipino Folk Dance, Dangarikar said in an interview.

Gov. Francis Escudero and his wife, actress Heart Evangelista, led the dancing of this cultural heritage, which highlighted the celebration of the province’s 125th founding anniversary. The Pantomina sa Tinampo, which was a part of the month-long festival, was done in a 5-kilometer stretch of road.

“The folk dance started from Fatima Church to Bulwagan and the iconic Rompeolas Baywalk in the province,” said Ronnie Aguilar of the provincial administrator’s office.

The lively record-setting performance of the traditional Bicolano dance of love and courtship concluded the 2019 Kasanggayahan Festival, a month-long commemoration of Sorsogon’s 125th year as a province.