The dancers weave in and out of heavy bamboo poles that are rhythmically clapped together. They have to jump quickly and at just the right times, lest their ankles get hit.
This is tinikling, a traditional dance from the Philippines. It's named after a chicken-sized, long-legged bird of the same name. This bird is known for jumping up and down in rice paddies, deftly avoiding bamboo traps set for them.
Philstar News reports that this performance from last April shows members of the Filipino Student Association at the Georgia Tech University performing a modern, hip hop inspired version of the traditional dance.
-via TYWKIWDBI
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Minnesotastan suggests trying this with pool noodles to get started.
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I also remember this from grade school back in the 60's... and it was only girls that played. Sounded very similar to the opening bit from the song, "We Will Rock You" by Queen. Much slower than what's in this video.
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We did this in grade school gym class. But we never did it this creatively, or we'd have broken too many ankles.
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neat
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As a kid I remember seeing this type of dancing. The bamboo 'logs' looked the same but the dancing was different. It was played as a game of 'dare' to see whose ankle would get caught in between the bamboo sticks. It's been decades since I've see it performed. It now reminds me of the tandem jump rope games played in some countries.
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