Dancing and Songs
There is no dancing in connection with the private ceremonies; but the tayo, a dance by one man and woman at a time, forms a part of nearly all public ceremonies. The dance is the same as the tayau of the Nabaloi except that the Kankanay dance to faster time. The time is faster among the northern than among the southern Kankanay.
While the dance is in progress the mambunong shouts the following at intervals of about ten minutes to the man who is dancing:
Baliwatak sika; matagoga, maganakka; bomaknangka; bomaknang abū tomoi mansīda; bamaknang abū babayī manadong tauwadi, kasinsinopantaka si oaoay.
I give you this blessing: may you live long, may you have children; may you be rich; may the giver of this ceremony also be rich; may the women dancing also be rich, so that there will be our gathering together always.
While the mambunong is reciting the baliwak, the man stops dancing, but the woman continues. The baliwak corresponds to the datok of the Nabaloi.
The typical dances of the Nabaloi and the Kankanay are very similar, but this can not be stated of the dances of any of the other Igorot tribes. The Bontoc, Ifugao, Apayao, and Kalinga dances all differ considerably, and even the most common dances in various towns of the same tribe differ to such an extent that an inhabitant of one town can not take part in a dance of another.
Sacred songs form a part of the worship in connection with the Kankanay mandit, palis, tamo, and bindian. The badio, which is an extemporaneous chant similar to the badio of the Nabaloi, is always sung in connection with all ceremonies if there is sufficient tapuy on which to become intoxicated, but it is not regarded as a part of the worship.