Singkil
The Maranao dance called Singkil is in the repertory of all Filipino dance troupes. There are many interpretations of this dance. In 1958 the Bayanihan Dance troupe started with a simple version and has since developed it into a theatrical and stylized spectacle to the point of its becoming the troupe's signature piece. According to Maranao legend, the Singkil derives its name from the feat of a certain Princess Gandingan. While she was walking in the forest, diwatas (fairies) caused the earth to quake and shake the trees and rocks; Princess Gandingan, however, skipped nimbly from one place to another so that her feet did not touch the fallen trees and rocks. Originally, in Singkil (Maranao word for "getting a leg or foot entangled in an object") a solo female performer danced in and out of crisscrossed bamboo poles, keeping time to the syncopation of the poles, at the same time manipulating two fans (apir). The dance had no music other than the beating of the poles and had a moderate and static rhythm.