Tinikling

origins

1500

It originated during the 1500s when the Spaniards conquered the Philippines. It was started by farmers on the Visayan Islands of Leyte.

what it represents

1500

Tinikling is often described as a folk dance that represents the attempts of Filipino rice farmers to catch and prevent the Tikling bird from stealing ripe rice grains from the fields

what is used for the dance

1500

Tinikling is a traditional Philippine folk dance which originated during the Spanish colonial era. 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.

instrument

1500

Originally, Tinikling is performed to the tune of Philippine folk songs played by an ensemble composed of traditional Filipino and Spanish string instruments.

costumes

1500

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.

PE classes

2000

Tinikling has become so widespread, that it’s often used in American P.E. classes as an aerobics exercise.