Tinikling is a traditional Philippine folk dance which originated during the Spanish colonial era. [1] The dance involves two people beating, tapping, and sliding bamboo poles on the ground and against each other in coordination with one or more dancers who step over and in between the poles in a dance. It is traditionally danced to rondalla music, a sort of serenade played by an ensemble of stringed instruments which originated in Spain during the Middle Ages. The locomotor movements used in tinkling are hopping, jumping and turning
The name tinikling is a reference to birds locally known as tikling , which can be any of a number of rail species, but more specifically refers to the slaty-breasted rail ( Gallirallus striatus ), the buff-banded rail ( Gallirallus philippensis ), and the barred rail ( Gallirallus torquatus ). [2] The term tinikling literally means "to perform it tikling-like." [3]
The dance originated in Leyte, Island in Visayas. [4] It imitates the movement of the tikling birds as they walk between grass stems, run over tree branches, or dodge bamboo traps set by rice farmers." [4] Dancers imitate the tikling bird's legendary grace and speed by skillfully maneuvering between large bamboo poles. [5]
Today tinikling is taught throughout the United States. In grades K-12 the dance is used as an aerobic exercise for physical education classes, to help expand physical movements such as hand coordination, foot speed, and also rhythm. Tinikling is commonly performed at schools and on special occasions, such as the Filipino Independence Day, as a celebration of Filipino culture and Filipino pride. [6]
Two or four parallel pairs of bamboo poles, each around 6 to 12 ft (1.8 to 3.7 m) long, are held by two or more sitting or kneeling people ("clappers" or "clickers"). The poles are used as percussive instruments accompanying rondalla music played with string instruments (usually bandurrias, guitars, laúdes, octavinas, or ukuleles). They produce clapping sounds as they are struck against the ground (or two raised pieces of wood) and each other in a triple metre pattern. Traditionally, the poles are tapped twice on the ground on the first two beats, then brought together on the third beat. [7] [8] [9] [10]
Two or more dancers then weave through the rapidly moving bamboo poles with bare feet and ankles. The dancers have to carefully follow the rhythm so as not to get their ankles caught between the poles as they snap closed. They start the dance with their hands at their hips or clasped behind their backs. The tempo of the bamboo poles becomes faster as the dance progresses, forcing the dancers closer together as their movements become more frantic. The dancers hold hands at the last part of the dance, when the tempo is the fastest. They end the dance by letting go of each other's hands and stepping out entirely of the moving bamboo poles. [8] [9] [10]
For the dance, females traditionally wear a dress called balintawak or patadyong, and males wear an untucked embroidered shirt called the barong Tagalog . The balintawak are colorful dresses with wide arched sleeves and the patadyong is a pineapple fiber blouse paired with checkered skirts. The barong Tagalog is usually light long sleeved shirts and worn with red trousers. Dancers wear no footwear while performing. [1]
Modern variants of the dance can include innovations like increasing the number or arrangement of the poles (including switching poles mid-dance), changing the number of dancers, or using different music and choreography. [8] Tinikling has also been noted to have the music changed in modern times to modern songs with strong percussions and bass to connect the traditions of the Philippine folk dance with their modern-day lifestyle. In the Philippines, the dance is often performed on certain Sundays. [4]
When performed by dance troupes or in cultural shows, Tinikling is typically performed in the "Rural Suite," which includes dances originating from Filipino Christians that have a more "folksy" character. [11] These dances originate mostly from the islands of Visayas and Luzon and imitate the simplicity and joy of the lifestyle of the Filipino villagers living in those regions during the Spanish period. [12] Other Filipino folk dances of this category include Sayaw sa Bangko , Maglalatik , and Pandanggo sa Ilaw .
In the United States, this dance has been altered into a four-beat rhythm to adjust to popular music. In some cases, it has been used in conjunction with traditional Filipino martial arts to demonstrate fleetness of foot and flow of movement. [13] As mentioned earlier, tinikling is used as aerobic exercise for physical education classes in the United States for grades K-12. Instead of using traditional bamboo poles, most schools create their poles using plastic PVC pipe or wooden dowels. [14] Another alternative is to tie elastic bands to the ankles of two students. The two students switch between jumping with their feet apart and their feet together to simulate the movement of the wooden poles. This way, more students are engaged in the aerobic exercise, rather than just the dancer. [15]
Similar dances are found throughout Asia, such as the Rangku Alu from Indonesia, the Cheraw dance from India, Múa Sạp from Vietnam, Lao Kra Top Mai from Thailand, Robam Kom Araek from Cambodia, Karen or Chin Bamboo Dance from Myanmar, Alai Sekap in Brunei, Ami Bamboo Dance from Taiwan, and Magunatip from Sabah, East Malaysia; except, Tinikling is the only bamboo-based dance that is Hispanic in nature.
A folk dance is a dance developed by people that reflect the life of the people of a certain country or region. Not all ethnic dances are folk dances. For example, ritual dances or dances of ritual origin are not considered to be folk dances. Ritual dances are usually called "Religious dances" because of their purpose. The terms "ethnic" and "traditional" are used when it is required to emphasize the cultural roots of the dance. In this sense, nearly all folk dances are ethnic ones. If some dances, such as polka, cross ethnic boundaries and even cross the boundary between "folk" and "ballroom dance", ethnic differences are often considerable enough to mention.
Music of the Philippines include musical performance arts in the Philippines or by Filipinos composed in various genres and styles. The compositions are often a mixture of different Asian, Spanish, Latin American, American, and indigenous influences. Philippine folk music has a strong Spanish and Latino influence as the country was under the Spanish crown for over 300 years.
Tanauan, officially the Municipality of Tanauan, is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 57,455 people.
The traditional music of the Philippines, like the folk music of other countries, reflects the life of common, mostly rural Filipinos. Like their counterparts in Asia, many traditional songs from the Philippines have a strong connection with nature. However, much of it employs the diatonic scale rather than the "more Asian" pentatonic scale, with the exception of indigenous people ritual music.
Bagurumba is a folk dance of indigenous Bodo tribe in Assam and Northeast India. It is a traditional dance which is traditionally inherent to one generation to another generations. The Bodo women perform the Bagurumba dance with their colourful dokhna, jwmgra (fasra) and aronai. The Bagurumba dance is accepted as main traditional dance of Bodo people. But there are some other important dances like Bardwisikhla dance, Mwsaglangnai dance, Dahal-tungri sibnai dance, Sikri sikla dance, Daosri delai dance, Sa-gwlao mwsanai, Kopri sibnai mwsanai and so on. All these dances are known as Kristi dance. It is also accompanied by musical instruments like kham, sifung, jota, serja, and gongwna, tharkha.
The kutiyapi, or kudyapi, is a Philippine two-stringed, fretted boat-lute. It is four to six feet long with nine frets made of hardened beeswax. The instrument is carved out of solid soft wood such as that from the jackfruit tree.
The jota is a genre of music and the associated dance known throughout Spain, most likely originating in Aragon. It varies by region, having a characteristic form in Aragon, Catalonia, Castile, Navarre, Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia, La Rioja, Murcia and Eastern Andalusia. Being a visual representation, the jota is danced and sung accompanied by castanets, and the interpreters tend to wear regional costumes. In Valencia, the jota was once danced during interment ceremonies.
Singkíl is a folk dance of the Maranao people of Lake Lanao depicting one of the episodes in the epic poem Darangen, which was popularised by the Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company.
Pangalay is the traditional "fingernail" dance of the Tausūg people of the Sulu Archipelago and eastern coast Bajau of Sabah.
The cariñosa is a Philippine dance of colonial-era origin from the Maria Clara suite of Philippine folk dances, where the fan or handkerchief plays an instrumental role as it places the couple in a romance scenario.
The baro’t saya or baro at saya is a traditional dress ensemble worn by women in the Philippines. It is a national dress of the Philippines and combines elements from both the precolonial native Filipino and colonial Spanish clothing styles. It traditionally consists of four parts: a blouse, a long skirt, a kerchief worn over the shoulders, and a short rectangular cloth worn over the skirt.
Arts in the Philippines refer to all the various forms of the arts that have developed and accumulated in the Philippines from the beginning of civilization in the country up to the present era. They reflect the range of artistic influences on the country's culture, including indigenous forms of the arts, and how these influences have honed the country's arts. These arts are divided into two distinct branches, namely, traditional arts and non-traditional arts. Each branch is further divided into various categories with subcategories.
Dance in the Philippines has played a tremendous role in Filipino culture. From one of the oldest dated dances called the Tinikling, to other folkloric dances such as the Pandanggo, Cariñosa, and Subli, and even to more modern-day dances like the ballet, it is no doubt that dance in the Philippine setting has integrated itself in society over the course of many years and is significantly imbedded in culture. Each of these dances originated in a unique way and serve a certain purpose, showcasing how diverse Philippine dances are now.
The Maglalatik is a folk dance from the Philippines performed by male dancers. Coconut shell halves are secured onto the dancers' hands and on vests upon which are hung four or six more coconut shell halves. The dancers perform the dance by hitting one coconut shell with the other; sometimes the ones on the hands, the ones on the body, or the shells worn by another performer, all in time to a fast drumbeat.
The María Clara gown, sometimes referred to as Filipiniana dress or traje de mestiza, is a traditional dress worn by women in the Philippines. It is an aristocratic version of the baro't saya. It takes its name from María Clara, the mestiza protagonist of the novel Noli Me Tángere, penned in 1887 by Filipino nationalist José Rizal. It is traditionally made out of piña, the same material used for the barong tagalog.
The rondalla is an ensemble of stringed instruments played with the plectrum or pick and generally known as plectrum instruments. It originated in Medieval Spain, especially in the ancient Crown of Aragon: Catalonia, Aragon, Murcia, and Valencia. The tradition was later taken to Spanish America and the Philippines. The word rondalla is from the Spanish ronda, meaning "serenade."
Cheraw dance is a traditional cultural dance performed in Mizoram, India, consisting of mostly six to eight people holding pairs of bamboo staves on another horizontally placed bamboo on the ground. The male performers then clap the bamboos rhythmically while groups of female dancers dance in intricate steps between the beating bamboos. It is the most famous and beautiful dance in Mizoram, and is the center of attraction during festive occasions. Similar dances are found in the Far East and in the Philippines.In the Philippines they have a similar dance called Tinikling that also uses bamboo sticks. A Guinness World Record was made in 2010, when a large number of cheraw dancers danced together at the same time.
Francisca Reyes-Aquino 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.
Filipino Americans have a long history of music in the United States. The Philippines have musical context and varied influences due to indigenous traditions and early colonial influences of Spanish and American occupation. During occupation by the United States, many Filipinos were recruited for manual labor along the West Coast. These early laborers commonly would perform Spanish-influenced rondallas as well as choral groups. With many Filipinos living in the United States beginning around the 1900s, Filipinos have contributed towards early Americana staples such as blues and jazz, and continue to influence more modern contemporary genres such as hip hop and rock. American music has also been influential in the Philippines for artists and vice versa. Though contributing to the evolution of American music, large number of Filipino Americans have a strong identity with culture of the Philippines by participating or organizing traditional dances and musical performances, largely in the form of PCNs on university campuses. Traditional dances and musical performances commonly practiced in the US are rondallas, choral groups, and gong chime ensembles. College campuses often organize performances on campuses, but can also have characteristics unique to America, as many Filipino Americans want to share their experiences of living in America and perform a more neo traditional variation of traditional performances.