Friday, October 5, 2012

5 Excellent Tinikling Performances in YouTube

Ask any Filipino this question: “What is the folk dance in your country?”

And the answer that you will mostly get is “tinikling”.

Tinikling is the most popular folk dance in the Philippines. It is so popular that it became the country's National Dance. Any Filipino cultural festival will never be complete if Tinikling is not performed.

Wikipedia says that the tinikling is a pre-Spanish era dance that mimics the movements of tikling while moving through the traps set by farmers. Tikling is a long legged bird, possibly a member of the Rail Species, that are common in rice paddies.

The Likha Filipino Folk Ensemble website claims that tinikling originated from the island of Leyte, in the Visayas Region.

To dance the tinikling, the dancers must be quick to avoid being caught between the clashing bamboo poles. Speed is not enough, however, because the dancers should dance the tinikling with grace. Thus, the fusion of speed and grace in spite of the clashing bamboo poles makes the tinikling a thrilling dance to watch.

Here are the 5 tinikling excellent performances that I saw in YouTube. Enjoy!

Tinikling Performance #1



The Tinikling dance in this video was performed for the 2005 Pilipino Culture Night. The dancers emplyed 4 pairs of bamboo poles. What I enjoyed in this video is that the dancers and bamboo poles kept on moving all around the stage.

Tinikling Performance #2


This is a short Tinikling performance danced by the Leyte Dance Theater. They also used four pairs of bamboo poles. You may also notice that the dancers used the "Pacquiao footwork."

Tinikling Performance #3


This is the modern rendition of Tinikling, which was danced in the music of Michael Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us".

Tinikling Performance #4


This Tinikling performance followed the traditional arrangement of the Tinikling dance. No fancy movements, just Tinikling. :-)

Tinikling Performance #5


This performance mixed Tinikling with pop music. Watch this if you plan to dance the Tinikling the "modern way"

The arrangement of each Tinikling performance was based on no particular order. All of the performers in each Youtube video danced the Tinkling very well. Each performance has its own “merits” and “demerits” and it is for you, dear viewer, to decide.

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Do you like to dance the tinikling? Or did you already danced the tinikling? Tell us about your experiences by leaving a comment on the comment box below.

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