M35: Tinikling Postcard

This is a 3D postcard that shows the Philippine dance Tinikling. The tinikling is the national dance of the Philippines and considered as one of the oldest dances in the country, originating in Leyte in the Visayas. The tinikling 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.

M35: Tinikling Postcard

The back of the postcard reads:

Tinikling - a favorite in the Visayan islands. It depicts the movement of the tikling birds walking between grass stems or hopping among branches. Skill is demonstrated in dancing between clicking bamboo poles.

(By the FILIPINESCAS: Philippine Life, Legend and Love in Dance.)

The dance is a reference to tikling, a bird with long legs and neck. The birds are considered as the worst enemy of the Waray farmers because prey on the ripening rice grains. To prevent this, the farmers would place some bitik, traps made of bamboo, to catch the birds. The birds, however, would still manage to escape from the traps. The tinikling dance imitates the movements of the tikling birds escaping from the bamboo traps set by the farmers.

RELATED ENTRY:
El Baile Tinikling Postcard

SOURCES:
Tinikling: The Philippine National Dance
Tinikling WikiPilipinas Entry