Tinikling Tinikling 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. 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 name "tinikling" is a reference to birds locally known as "tikling", which can be any of a number of rail species, but
Tinikling 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. 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"