baile the sagay guapings way

one of the current conversation threads in the guest book of the sagay city website is about going to the “baile”  the sagay way.  it recalls how young sagaynons went “discoeing” in the 80s, 70s or earlier, when the young and the not-so-young walked through sugarcane fields, rivers and hills for the pleasure of grooving and dancing cheek-to-cheek. 

we didn’t have disco bars then; dances were held at the plaza or an open space in the middle of the village, where the dancing area was coralled with split bamboo  and coconut leaves.  “kicking up a dust” literally happened when fast music was on and  watusi and freestyle “maskipops”  moves were showcased on the dirt dance floor.

this was the village way, where folks were poor  but were always generous, pleasant and enviable in their simple and uncluttered lifestyle. 

so what was “mamayle” or going to the baile all about? kartaps, a sagaynon whose moniker is derived from “karga-tapas” ( the act of loading and cutting the sugarcane, sagay’s lifeline as with the rest of negros occidental) has this take..

” ..idol, absent ko kagahapon kay namayle kami sa minapasok…na agahan kami kay waay salakyan,,waay gali galing ang central ti waay mga trucking pa bato..naghapit kami sa bug-ang, namahaw tubo(pang-us), kay ubos na kuarta namon..dulhog kami sa may linasgasan kag nag swimming sa talamnan..deretso pa dian-ay,sa kakapoy daw mapatay..dulhog sa inangtan..bisan tulog ga dalagan…at last nakakita karo galing hasta makiling lang, okey pa rin basta makitipid tikang..daw tatlo ka oras nga baklay bag-o namon malambot ang poruk marang..ay salamat malapit na lang..pot..pot.. pot..busina sang salakyan, bagbalikid namon..marlyn line sa minapasok gikan!!..pamangkot sang driver(bebs), to sakay ka ang sabat ko….###ta nga bag-o ka lang?? ti mamayle pa ta liwat??”

.“.ang mga tsiks bisan gab-i ga idlak ang buhok..inusap nga lubi ang shampoo..tapos brilyantin ang perfume..tapos ka tsinelsa lang..kun kis-a kun ga sa-ut kamo kalit lang mauntat kay kaayuhun anay ang tsinelsa kay nahukas..pro okey man lang gihapon a..das okeyy,,basta may gakos a..ha-ha-ha..sigi binayle!!”

[idol,   i am late because we went dancing in minapasok, where we were till morning, because we couldn’t get a ride with the sugarcane trucks to barrio bato … it was not milling time… we stopped in bug-ang for a bite of sugarcane, that was all that we could afford for breakfast…went down to linasgasan, bathed in the field … straight off to dian-ay, dead tired by then…sleepily jogged to inangtan … at last hitched a ride in a cart but only till makiling, okay all the same to save a few steps… hiked for three more hours to reach purok marang, thank goodness we’re almost there… was that a car horn?  Yes! Marlyn line from minapasok…. Bebs the driver asked, want a ride? S**b why only now?  will we go to the dance again?  ….    The girls’ tresses were gloriously shiny even at night, shampooed with the milk of  shredded coconut and brilliantine perfumed…  at times stopped in mid-dance to fix  her flip flops…that’s okay… I get to hug…]