around the altar and around the hollow log underneath the platform, holding in one hand a knife and in the other a piece of wood and a leaf. The altar to the female is served by two women who take turns in beating a bowl, burning incense, and dancing. Unlike the male shaman, they carry no knife or piece of wood. The male dance differs from the female's. In the former, the dancer hops over the ground with a quick step. In the latter, there is hardly any movement of the feet. It is all hand movement and bodily gestures Many other kinds of dance, some of them mimetic, showcase the lively spirit of Subanon ritual. The soten is an all-male dance dramatizing the strength and stoic character of the Subanon male. It employs fancy movements, with the left hand clutching a wooden shield and the right hand shaking dried leaves of palm. In a manner of supplication, he calls the attention of the diwata with the sound of the leaves, believed to be the most beautiful and pleasing to the ears of those deities. The Subanon warrior, believing that he has caught the attention of the diwata who are now present, continues to dance by shaking his shield, manipulating it as though in mortal combat with unseen adversaries. The soten is danced to the accompaniment of music played on several blue and white Ming dynasty bowls, performed in syncopated rhythm by female musicians. The diwata is a dance performed by Subanon women in Zamboanga del Norte before they set out to work in the swidden. In this dance, they supplicate the diwata for a bountiful harvest. The farmers carry baskets laden with grains. They dart in and out of two bamboo planting sticks laid on the ground, which are struck together in rhythmic cadence by the male dancers. The clapping sequence is similar to that of the tinikling or bamboo dance. The lapal is a dance of the balian as a form of communication with the diwata, while the sot is a dance performed by Subanon men before going off to battle. The balae is a dance performed by young Subanon women looking for husbands. They whisk dried palm leaves, whose sound is supposed to please the deities into granting their wishes. The pangalitawao is a courtship dance of the Subanon of Zamboanga del Sur, usually performed during harvest