Max Adlao

was born in December 26,1925 on the small, obscure island of Maria Siquijor, Negros Oriental, and died on 2009. Max remembered that he first started to draw even before he went to school, using on the sly, crayons and pencils of his older brother.

Max Adlao

 “Tinikling”

2002

Oil on Canvas

36x72 in

Dancers imitate the tikling bird's legendary grace and speed by skillfully maneuvering between large bamboo poles. Tinikling roughly translates in English to a kind of "bamboo dance". 

I chose this artwork to celebrate the Philippine National Folk Dance, the Tinikling, inarguably the most popular and well-loved among the Philippine dances, deserving of its distinction and honor. The dance imitates the graceful movement of the tikling birds as they walk among the rice fields, run over tree branches, or dodge bamboo traps set by rice farmers.