Kuratsa is a widely performed traditional courtship dance in Leyte and Samar.

        The dance is performed during annual fiestas and family gatherings like birthdays and weddings. In Kuratsa, dancers imitate the courtship of a rooster and a hen. It was performed usually as a fundraising project in the traditional gala, wherein people give money to dancers through the "abwag" or the money thrown up in the air by the dancers or other people offering money.

        The movements vary by region, and the most common version is the "Kuratsa Menor" although there are also the "Kuratsa Mayor," the "Kuratsa han Kadam-an," and the "Kuratsa nga Pinayungan."

        In San Miguel, Leyte, there is the dance called the Kuratsa Binuaya.

        It evolved from the legend of Bathan and Bela, the story of a woman and crocodile who traveled from Mindanao to go home to San Miguel. The Kuratsa Binuaya is the dance supposedly performed by Bela, the crocodile, during the festivities celebrating Bathan’s miraculous return from captivity in Jolo.

        On the last of the three-day feast in Cabadsan, Bela requested to dance the kuratsa with Bathan before leaving for Jolo. The people let the crocodile drink ‘’tuba’’ (coconut wine) before it danced the Kuratsa with Bathan. A man named Carpio, fascinated to see the crocodile dance, imitated the crocodile’s moves, thus the crocodile dance was born.

Sources:

The Velarde Trivia: Kuratsa https://www.facebook.com/VelardeMap/photos/a.105077328392890/200225362211419/