Janggay is a set of brass or silver fingernails worn by Bajao (Badjaw) women when dancing to enhance their already bent fingers.  There are short unadorned janggay nails and there are longer ones that are flower tipped.  (The fingernails also mimic the claws of the birds and is considered one of the “bird” dances.) Our model is Evans.

Pangalay (also known as Daling-Daling or Mengalai in Sabah) is the traditional “fingernail” dance of the Tausug People of the Sulu Archipelago and Sabah. The dance is the most distinctively Asian of all the southern Philippine dances because dancers must have dexterity and flexibility of the shoulders, elbows, and wrists – movements that strongly resemble those of “kontaw silat,” a martial art common in Maritime Southeast Asia. The Pangalay is predominantly performed during weddings or other festive events.

This dance has taken its name from the janggay fingernails and could be performed by a couple of women, 4 or more.  Boat weddings, Muslim festivals and Ramadan become the reason to celebrate and perform janggay dance.

The original concept of the Pangalay is based on the pre-Islamic Buddhist concept of male and female celestial angels (Sanskrit: Vidhyadhari, Bahasa Sug: Biddadari) common as characters in other Southeast Asian dances. Neighboring Samal and Bajau peoples call this type of dance, Umaral or Igal, and they sometimes use bamboo castanets as substitutes for long fingernails.

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Text via Wikipedia

Jangay | Featuring: Evans Shades

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