Jacob Dominguez

Jacob doing traditional Filipino dance

Jacob Walse-Dominguez (he/they) is a Tagalog-Kapampangan, Visayan, Sundanese, Dutch, and Chinese-heritaged queer traditional artist whose work centers the martial and dance lineages of Maritime Southeast Asia. Their core training is rooted in Philippine Kuntau–Silat traditions from Sama–Tausug lineages, alongside Melayu-Sabah forms, developed through research with culture-bearers across Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga, Jolo, and Manila. This foundation is complemented by sustained study of Pencak Silat in West Java within the Mande Muda and Cimande traditions as well as the diasporic lineage of Gerakan Suci. Jacob’s movements integrates Indic–Austronesian classical vocabularies, indigenous Philippine ritual motion, rhythm, breath, and ancestral trance, bridging martial practice, performance, and diasporic cultural practice translated to modern-day complexities.