Tinikling requires agility and virility of both female and male dancers. One can only imagine how those well-toned, brown bodied lasses jump their way over the bamboo trappings in syncopated rhythm, their nubile chests rise and fall in beat, while their male partners and onlookers catch brief glimpses of their supple calves.
I may become overly ambitious to stage such concept production. But thoughts about what Philippine dances could be like minus the Catholic-colonization sense of decorum is a very potent temptation. After all, sex sells. If you seriously believe that the future of Philippine dance industry (or hardly an industry) lies in the hands of CCP theater goers in formal wear and SUVs, then expect that in 10 years time we will have show dancing as one of Visita Iglesia attractions. Yes, I know that it is too Miss-Tapia-starchy stiff as a future trend. If anything, one should take a 360 on what the drag dancers dance makers are doing for fiesta dance parade tourist attractions. That one has potential of sustaining itself, and don't you even start on giving me the lowdown about the lowbrow and highbrow art.
Better yet, one of the local indie film producers could make a short film series out of this. As I believe, historical pictures need not be asexual and ailing. I imagine it to mostly have physical acting as brilliant as Apocalypto.
Tuba plantation in Quezon is a spectacle. I've come to realize that much of our production skills require nimble feet. And yes, Filipinos are never flat-footed. I wonder if this trait has anything to do why we are head-over-heels in love with basketball and boxing.
One other thing, we also have a fondness for playthings. Yes, playthings, not the bedtime props playthings (that's going to be another article that I will write) but impromptu playthings. Resourcefulness and playfulness combined, we are the masters of movement improvisation indeed. Tinikling, singkil, sayaw sa bangko, patpat, pandango sa ilaw, binasuan, and not to mention our own version of krumping, maglalatik, these dances not only show off attitude and highly-skilled exhibitionism but also, and not surprisingly, rhythmic musicality. The use of found objects in these dances doesn't only provide us with complex movement improvisation but also nourishes our minds with rich auditory treats. Creative movement proponents should take note of this. One very promising choreographer is attentive enough to pick this up as a source of inspiration, Raul Alcoseba of Chameleon Dance Theatre used plastic sando bags and newspapers in one of his dance pieces.
Tittering bare feet against the dirt, smiles and notions of festivities. That is what folk dancing is like. Dum dum tak in mid tempo of rondalla promotes ease in fluid movements albeit on toes. Interesting. I might have seen remnants of this folk dance default in one of the town fiesta's pasayaw as some of the Tatangs and Manangs brung it on. When projecting folksy ambiance, a stiff back, clenched stomach, and haughty chin are big no-nos. Well, except of course if it is the singkil but even so, stiff back and clenched stomach for a Lakambini is not so princess-like. In general, Filipina maidens dance off-centered, almost entirely relying upon their nimble feet to keep their balingkinitan bodies upright while in motion.
Which reminds me how I almost not survive walking on Quezon red-earth mud because I've been stubbornly using my urban legs. Walking the grimy asphalt streets of Manila condones motion on the hips while stomping hard enough on the pavement to shake a few dangles and accoutrements on your clothes ala catwalk biatch, and sometimes slightly bending your knees to set off a bouncy and cheeky walk ala Travolta in Staying Alive. But if you ever use this strut in mid-September Quezon claypot mud, you're dead. Ball to toes weightshifting is going to be futile. The trick is to distribute weight on sole as evenly as possible and walk as quick and lightly as possible as if you're stepping on burning coals.
Similarly, walking your streetwise strut on rocky downhills will send you off the cliff. The trick here is to bend your knees to absorb the shocks kinda like skiing, keep your legs apart and put the weight on the outer edges of your feet. No wonder mountain feet look like giant cashew nuts. And if ever you find yourself walking downhill on desert sand dunes, apply the same steps but this time put your weight on your heels to prevent you from skidding on sand.
