Around Christmas time the Igorot community in Bristol hold a gathering to thank God for prosperous times and celebrate the year that has just passed. Food is shared, gifts are swapped and music is played. Igorot Filipinos, although resisting complete occupation until the 19th century are extremely christian and as a result many indigenous traditions have been altered and adapted in line with christian structures spatially and temporally. For instance, the concept of Begnas where the village would come together to eat bountifully, perform gangsa and dance has been adapted to its current format where now grace is said before eating, events are held around the christian holiday calender and take place within christian reserved spaces like church halls. Pre-proselytisation, superstitious factors such as different deities(Lumawig) and anitos(spirits of dead ancesters inhabiting the Earth) would dictate when gatherings took place. Gangsa(gongs) are still played at the gatherings I participate in, however, this isn’t the case for all Igorots of the diaspora, and often are played as cultural artefacts with their meaning in relation to indigenous traditions fading. Now the performance of the gongs acting as an exhibition of the past and a nod to ancestry.

Many of the concepts that surround balangbang, the sound the dance and the interplay between both is improvised. There is a rhythmic system however, which is passed down by ear from generation to generation. The older men, especially uncle Roy and Troy were attempting to explain rhythmical concepts that don’t follow conventional western rhythmic patterns and as such was especially challenging to communicate across in English where the vocabulary doesn’t necessarily allow for accurate descriptions of concepts synthesised in a different language. It was also expected that I should learn from observation and experience and as such they would be happy for me to attempt to replicate and follow their steps. The gangsa ensemble often consists of 7+ gongs when performing balangbang but their were other arrangements that involved other instruments which we don’t have access to.