Francisca Reyes-Aquino

Francisca Reyes-Aquino (March 9, 1899 – November 21, 1983) was a Filipino folk dancer and academic noted for her research on Philippine folk dance. She is a recipient of the Republic Award of Merit and the Ramon Magsaysay Award and is a designated National Artist of the Philippines for Dance.

Biography Francisca was born in Bocaue, Bulacan on March 9, 1899. Reyes-Aquino studied Physical Education and graduated with a BS Education degree from the University of the Philippines and Sargent College in Boston.

Among Reyes-Aquino's most noted works is her research on folk dances and songs as a student assistant at the University of the Philippines (UP). Pursuing her graduate studies, she started her work in the 1921 traveling to remote barrios in Central and Northern Luzon.

She published a thesis in 1926 entitled "Philippine Folk Dances and Games" where she noted on previously unrecorded forms of local celebration, ritual and sports. Reyes-Aquino discovered and taught dances through her books such as Tinikling, Maglalatik, Lubi-lubi, Polka sa Nayon. Her thesis was made with teachers and playground instructors from both public and private institutions in mind. Her contributions to physical education also introduced the subject to the American school curriculum.

Reyes-Aquino also had other books published including Philippine National Dances (1946), Gymnastics for Girls (1947), Fundamental Dance Steps and Music (1948), Foreign Folk Dances (1949), Dances for all Occasion (1950), Playground Demonstration (1951), and Philippine Folk Dances, Volumes I to VI.