In Philippines, it is a very popular myth that after the Spanish invasion, the King of Spain ordered for the massive plantation. All the filipinos obeyed the orders and those who disregarded the rules of the King, they were penalized by standing between two bamboo poles. At that time, a practice was established among the common Filipinos to perform a traditional folk dance, which is nowadays known to the world as Tinikling; the traditional bamboo dance of Philippines.

Tinikling – Traditional Bamboo Dance of the Philippines – Image by symplex

The Tinikling dancers perform barefooted, wearing the traditional costumes; as the females wear a dress called balintawak or patadyong. And the male dancers wear the outfit called 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 is the traditional outfit for males, which is a lightweight long sleeved shirts and worn with red trousers.

Tikling Bird of Philippines

Tinikling is the word which is in connection with a special native Filipino bird known as tikling. Tinikling; the traditional bamboo dance of Philippines derives its impression from the movement of the tikling birds as they walk between grass stems, run over tree branches, or dodge bamboo traps set by rice farmers.

Colorful costumes of Tinikling dancers in Philippines – Image by Beechwood Photography

There are five steps of this traditional bamboo dance. Firstly, the dancers dance opposite each other, and during the last step, they start from the same side of the bamboo poles. The bamboo is the appalling feature of Tinikling, as it is banged against the ground (or a piece of wood to make it easier to hold) and each other in a pattern. The bamboo has to be closed hard enough to make a sound, and the dancers must be quick enough to not get their foot (or feet) caught. The rythem of the Tinikling becomes faster and faster, and the dancers receive the appreciation from the crowd with their amazed and thrilling movements.

The magico-medicine men of the Indian state of Kerala are famous in the world for performing a ritual dance, which is known as Padayani or Padeni. Padayani is performed to pay the tribute to the warriors and this dance is full of music, dance, theatre, satire, facial masks, and paintings. Padayani is the specially associated with the Bhadrakali temples where the goddess Kali is worshipped.

Padayani: The ritual dance of Kerala – neeraj pg Image

Padayani, the Ritual Dance of Kerala is the simple and at the same time complicated compilations of assumptions. It surpasses time. It is attached to the archetypal tendentiousness. Padayani has the interdependence of absolute glamour of adornment, costume, dance and theatrical languages. A major attraction of padayani is the song associated with it. Traditionally only a single type of instrument is used to associate the song, thappu. The songs are in simple malayalam and have been handed down from the ancestors over the years.

Padayani, the Ritual Dance of Kerala is celebrated mainly in the months of February and March. Padayani has mainly a series of divine and semi-divine impersonations wearing huge masks or kolams of different shapes, colours and desingns painted on the stalks of arecanut fronds. There are more than fifty well known folk dances in Kerala. Of them the Kaliyattom, Mudiettu, Kolam thullal, Kolkali, Poorakkali, Valakali, Kamapadavukali, Kanniyarkali, Parichamuttukali, Thappukali, Kuravarkali and Thiruvathirakali are most popular.

The Kurdish people have a similar tradition to dance together by holding each other’s arms like the Lebanese and Balkan traditional dances. The Kurdish traditional dance is a centuries old heritage of the Kurdish community which is a symbol of harmony and integrity. The Kurdish traditional dance is accompanied by melodious music and superb body movements and it is a primary part of Halparke (the Kurdish culture). There are slight variations in the Kurdish traditional dances that exist in various regions. The renowned versions are known as Dilan, Sepe and Chapi.

Kurdish traditional dance - Photo owned by Khosro Zabihi

Dilan is performed by the Kurdish men and women together in a circle holding hands with bright colored handkerchiefs. Chapi and Sepe are almost alike and consist of stepping forward on the left foot twice and then stepping back on the right foot twice while traveling in a circle. The only difference in Sepe is the motion towards the center of the circle and hitting the right foot roughly to the ground.

Kurdish people are considered as a brave and warrior nation. The Kurdish traditional dance is the regalia of the magnanimous and proud life style of Kurdish nation.

Bodo-Kachri is a large ethnic community living for the centuries in Indian state of Assam. They also live in some other parts of North-East India and Nepal. They have a unique linguistic and cultural heritage and the term “Bodo” refers to a particular clan, of which the former Kachari kings were a part. Although they don’t practice the same religion as some of them belong to Hinduism, some practice Christianity and some have embraced Bathouism; yet they all have preserved their unique life style and traditions.

Bagurumba: The Bodo folk dance ( Image courtesy outlookindia.com )

Bagurumba is a Bodo folk dance which is the most important feature of the culture of Bodo community. This dance is mostly performed by young women along with singing a traditional song;

Bagurumba, Hai Bagurumba
Bagurumba, Hai aio Bagurumba
jat nonga bwla khun nonga bwla
thab brum homnanwi bamnanwi lagwmwn kha
hwi lwgw lagwmwn kha…

Bagurumba, the Bodo folk dance makes the cultural ceremonies brilliantly colorful that are usually organ,ized in the colleges and school of Assam. The Bodos use many musical instruments like Siphung ,Serja ,Tharkha and Khawang to make this traditional dance more alluring and melodious.

The people of Serbia love to dance together in a large group which is one of the phenomenal features of the Serbian heritage. The most famous traditional dance of Serbia is known as “KOLO” which is called as Kono in the Serbian language. The continued practice to perform Kolo or Kono is to dance it collectively; however, minimum three to four people may also be seen dancing Kolo. This folk dance is named Kolo because the dancers hold each other by the hands or around the waist and usually dance in a circle.

Kolo, the traditional dance of Serbia - Image: williewonker

The dance is accompanied by instrumental two-beat music with the same name, made most often with an accordion, but also with other instruments; frula (traditional kind of a recorder), zurla, tapan, or harmonica. Normally the dancers don’t move their upper body parts while dancing Kolo. There are numerous varieties of Kolo that are practiced in different parts of Serbia. Kraljevo Kolo, Nevan Kolo, Velico Backo Kolo, Morovac Kolo, Uzicko Kolo, Zikino kolo and Cacak Kolo are the popular varaities of Kolo, the traditional dance of Serbia.