You were wise to be terrified, Jann. My sister and I used to perform the Tinikling and other folk dances (e.g. Pandango sa ilaw - the one with the lit wicks floating in glasses filled with coconut oil, you danced with one on the back of each hand and one balanced on your head, or Itik Itik, the duckling dance, or Singkil -not sure of the spelling on that one-from Mindanao). At one point the Philippine Rotary Club had us go on tour to various cities performing with our dad (a Rotarian) as chaperone. Anyway, at the time I was painfully skinny and quite lithe, but I can't tell you how many times I sprained one or the other ankle with the Tinikling. It was always an accident waiting to happen. Later, in the states in college in Colorado, I begged bamboo poles from carpet stores who used to roll carpets around them for shipping, and I taught my sorority sisters all the dances for college variety shows, for which we sewed some half-decent likenesses of the familiar costumes and managed not to fall off the stage in the theatre. I even taught a guy who was a dance major to do the Tinikling, and he and I performed it for a local Denver TV station! Nowadays if I try to do all that jumping around, at my age, I'm likely to pee my pants! Pandango sa ilaw is about my speed these days-a much calmer dance (although once in a while you shatter a glass that slips off your head-not the best when you are dancing barefoot)! Susan We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We've staked the future of all our political institutions upon our capacity... to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God. (James Madison, 1778 to the General Assembly of the State of Virginia) From: oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of LAURELCG@aol.com Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012 12:58 PM To: oe@lists.wedgeblade.net Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] The old Order passing away Yes, Jaime. I was terrified to try the tinikling, being a little slow-moving in my youth. My ankles were reluctant, not having wings. Jann In a message dated 9/27/2012 4:40:31 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, svesjaime@aol.com writes: Susan and Jann, et al - The tinkling bamboo dance, the national dance, is also perceived as a life stance. When birds are caught in the bamboo groove, especially during a storm, the bamboos hit each other ferociously that the only option is to try to escape, or dance in the wind, gracefully and with agility - but carefully. j'aime la vie