Category Archives: Kinesthetic

Body movements

Cross yourself when you speak of the dead

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 30, 2013
Primary Language: English

“When you’re talking about someone who died, you have to do the sign of the cross after you say something, especially if you said something bad.”

 

My informant comes from an Irish-American Catholic family. Crossing oneself is a common gesture within this community, especially when talking of the dead. Although Catholics don’t technically believe in ghosts, the general consensus seems to be that speaking ill of the dead could lead to repercussions for the speaker. Crossing oneself could help with any negative effects of speaking ill of the dead. In addition, crossing oneself when speaking of the dead in general serves as a blessing and a way of commemorating the dead; it is a sign of respect.

Don’t shake your leg

Nationality: Korean
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 30, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

“If you shake your leg when you’re sitting, you shake off all your good luck.”

 

My informant comes from a Korean family. She had no idea why she was taught this as a child, but recalled her mother being adamant about the dangers of shaking one’s leg (she demonstrated – the saying seems to apply to when one is sitting with one leg crossed over the other, jiggling the foot of the leg on top). There could be some sort of superstition involved in this belief; however, I think it’s likely that people simply wanted their children to stop fidgeting and made up a reason for them to refrain.

Tinikling

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 17
Occupation: Student
Residence: Palmdale, CA
Performance Date: April 21, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: -

Nicholas Virtue is a student at Quartz Hill High School and has participated in the tinikling dance team for two years. The Multicultural Club at QHHS hosts an assembly annualy, in which a variety of dances and cultural experiences from countries around the world are made available are performed for students. Some examples of performances have been hispanic dances, bollywood, tae kwon doe and karate. The tinikling dance team was put together for this assembly, and their performance is considered the most anticipated and well-loved of the assembly. Although he had no Filipino background, Nic started to participate in this dance his freshman year of high school, at 15 years old. Nic described the performance of the QHHS tinikling dance team at the Multicultural Assembly to me.

Tinikling is a Filipino dance, using 4 pairs of approximately 6 foot long bamboo poles. Each pair of sticks is used by two clappers and three dancers. The clappers clap the sticks together, keeping a steady beat throughout the song while dancers dance through them. It is perceived has a dangerous dance, because any fault could result in the bamboo sticks clapping on feet and injuring them.

The music has a ¾ time signature and no lyrics. Nic described their song as upbeat, using high stringed instruments. He also observed that the noise from clapping the sticks fits into the song, and becomes a part of it. About halfway through the song it begins to get faster, making it more and more challenging for clappers and dancers. The QHHS tinikling team wears the same clothes every year for the Multicultural Assembly performance. No one wears shoes or socks, either during rehearsal or performance. Guys wear red slims rolled up to the knee, a white v neck, and a red bandana around the neck. Girls wear a white v neck as well, but with no bandana. They each wear either green or red skirts, depending on their role in the dance. Typically, there is a different choreography for “girl 1” and “girl 2,” and the color of their skirt depends on their role in the dance.

Since the song is in ¾ time the clappers hit the sticks on the ground beats one and two, then clap them together on beat three. Consequently, the dancers must have their foot out of the sticks on beat three, otherwise they could be injured; leaving them time to dance between the sticks on beats one and two. Some of the basic dance moves include the single, half turn, full turn and front and back. Singles move dancers from one side of sticks to the other. Half turns rotate dancers 180 degrees and to the other side of the sticks. Full turns are complete 360 degree spins. Front and backs take 6 beats to complete, going to one side then back again, leaving the dancer on the same side of the sticks.

While dancers are responsible for their moves through the sticks, clappers are responsible for the movement of the sticks themselves. Stick transitions involve clappers and sometimes even the dancers to move sticks to different formations and have people dancing through the sticks while it is happening, or immediately after the transition is completed. For the most recent Multicultural Assembly, the tinikling team used 4 pairs of sticks, making the plus formation, a square, “ the death box” which resembles a hashtag and was described as the most dangerous and injury-infliction formation, and “the soul train” where all sticks are parallel to each other.

As a clapper, one of Nic’s favorite parts is stick passing. Executed in the plus formation, the inside clappers set down one of their sticks to the person on their right side, who would grab that stick and drag it across, while the outside clapper throws the stick to them (their left). The same thing is repeated in reverse, and sticks are passed in the opposite direction as inside clappers pass to their left and outside clappers throw to their right. All the while, dancers dance between the sticks and jump over them when they are thrown. As complicated as stick passing is to explain, it is even more so to learn and execute. It takes a heightened degree of teamwork to accomplish stick passing successfully. After stick passing, which occurs at the end of the routine during the quickening tempo, the each clapper lifts up the right stick, making four X formations for the final pose.

Nic exemplified the connection a clapper has to their set of sticks by describing each set and labeling one as his own. As stated previously, QHHS used four sets of sticks with four different qualities. Each set was marked with a different color duct tape, blue, red, yellow and white; possibly emulating the colors of the Filipino flag. Blue sticks are the heaviest, and the ones Nic claimed as his own, yellow are the most awkward with one stick too small and the other too large, red are the straightest and most comfortable and white are the lightest. This helps dancers and clappers know which sticks are theirs as they practice with them throughout the year. Nic said having his own set of sticks gave him a personal connection and reminded him of his part in the dance. Each set of sticks brings together a set of two clappers and three dancers (one boy and two girls) as they work together to prepare for the assembly.

Nic began tinikling his freshman year because he had heard it was a fun group of people. His desire to develop community and make friends drew him to tinikling, despite his lack of Filipino background. The challenges and high stakes of tinikling draw the community together in order to achieve their goal and perform at the assembly. Some of the stick transitions and dances require teamwork, exemplified by “the death box.” During this transition, two sets of clappers flip their sticks over the heads of the other two sets of clappers, laying their sticks in a hashtag across each other. The dancers then enter into this box, one after another. If clappers do not transition correctly or clap in time, or if the dancers hesitate and don’t enter the box on the correct beat, not only is the dance move ruined, but there is a high change of head or foot injury. The high stakes motivate dancers and clappers to work together, developing community along the way.

The following video is the QHHS Tinikling team at the 2013 Multicultural Assembly. The video with the opening choreography. Then the dancers and clappers switch positions and there is a transition from the plus stick formation to a square formation.

Quartz Hill High School Tinikling

Cadence- Trojan Marching Band

Nationality: Sri Lankan; Irish, Scottish, German; Irish, German, Norweigan, Polish, Swedish; American
Age: 21; 19; 18; 18
Occupation: Student; Student; Student; Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 28, 2013
Primary Language: English

The Trojan Marching Band (TMB), otherwise known as The Spirit of Troy and The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe, is the marching band at the University of Southern California. The band plays for the university’s sports teams, especially involved in football games, promoting school spirit and acting as a source of entertainment. The TMB has a culture of its own, teeming with tradition. Being in the band myself, I gathered four of my friends to discuss these traditions. Mishan is a junior, Angie is a sophomore and AJ and Travis are freshman, all in the clarinet section.

 

When the marching band moves from one location to another, the drum line plays a cadence. During the music the band yells and sings different things. These chants increase the spirit of the band.

Changes in cadence chants are an example of the multiplicity and variation of folklore. Angie pointed out that new chants are being created all the time based on recent and relevant occurrences.

Practically, the rhythm of the chants help the band stay in rank and in step with each other so it looks unified. It also takes the focus off of the long trek, three-quarters of a mile or more, the the Coliseum where football games are held.

When the band is in sync with each other, it makes it difficult for outsiders to penetrate the ranks. There is a phrase “no one gets through the band.” This is occasionally a safety issue, especially if the band is at an away game with the fans of other teams. Band members have gotten into fights or had their helmets stolen. But in a tight block the band is unified and impenetrable. In addition to safety concerns, this is also a source of pride. Yelling these phrases that outsiders aren’t familiar with separates the band from other teams fans. Instead of paying attention to heckling onlookers, the band is stands apart.

Laps- Trojan Marching Band

Nationality: Sri Lankan; Irish, Scottish, German; Irish, German, Norweigan, Polish, Swedish; American
Age: 21; 19; 18; 18
Occupation: Student; Student; Student; Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 28, 2013
Primary Language: English

The Trojan Marching Band (TMB), otherwise known as The Spirit of Troy and The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe, is the marching band at the University of Southern California. The band plays for the university’s sports teams, especially involved in football games, promoting school spirit and acting as a source of entertainment. The TMB has a culture of its own, teeming with tradition. Being in the band myself, I gathered four of my friends to discuss these traditions. Mishan is a junior, Angie is a sophomore and AJ and Travis are freshman, all in the clarinet section.

 

During rehearsal the band director, Dr. Bartner, speaks from the podium. Whenever he says a word or phrase that has some sort of association with an individual, they take a lap (in which the individual runs around the entire band). The association could be with a band name (see Band Names entry), a personality trait, a physical characteristic or some other association. For example, AJ’s band name is “air bud” and whenever Bartner says “lick” (as in a phrase of music) AJ takes a lap (as if it were a dog’s lick). Angie played water polo in high school, so anytime Barnter mentions our water polo team she takes a lap. My informants described this ritual as a way to publicly take pride in ones individuality. Laps are taken by the band in its entirety, therefore this tradition unifies the band.

Laps are also taken when mistakes are made. The mistakes might be playing something wrong in the music or not executing a drill correctly. These kinds of laps are a way of publicly taking responsibility for your performance during rehearsal. Public activities like these make band members less self conscious in performance. Angie pointed out, there is plenty of reason to be nervous when the band enters the Coliseum holding 90,000 people. But activities like these decrease the tension.


Like many other traditions in the TMB (see Cadence entry), I believe that laps are a productive distraction. By taking laps throughout rehearsal based on silly or fun associations, focus is taken away from any redundancy or potential annoyance during rehearsal. Searching for associations amidst Bartner’s words is also a way to ensure band members are in fact paying attention to instructions. By running laps for mistakes, all band members are held accountable for their performance, ultimately making a better band.