HISTORICAL OF SUMATRAN DANCING
Like
the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese dances, described above, sumatran
dancing too has developed in the course of time, accordance with
the development of the society supporting it.
thrown
over their shoulders. The dance discribes the relationship between
a man and a woman and in the family, where the man, who is responsible
for the woman, will always be her protector. There are also people
who believe that the Umbrella Dance describes the efforts of a young
man to win the girl of his dreams by showing his responsibility
as a husband for his future wife. The men, carrying the umbrellas,
move them to the left and to the right as they dance in their efforts
to protect the heads of the women. The Umbrella Dance, then, is
a Minangkabau dance with its characteristic dynamic and gay nature.
The accompanying music consists of gendang,s or rebana,s with an
accordion or piano.
THE
SERAMPANG DUABELAS DANCE
The
Serampang Duabelas Dance comes from East -Sumatra and is danced
by men and women in pairs. R.O. Simatupang says in his book that
the word serampang is sound variation of the word cerancang, which
means parts or variations, and duabelas, twelve, indicating a rather
large number. Accordingly, the Cerancang Dance, the name of. which
has been changed into Serampang Duabelas, is a Sumatran dance with
several variations in its movements. The costumes are similar to
those of the Umbrella Dance. Both men and women begin the dance
with a slow rhythm, which gradually increases in speed, the dancers
all smiling in enjoyment. Like the Umbrella Dance, the Serampang
Duabelas Dance is a love-dance, or a social dance enabling men and
women to know each other better.
THE
MAK INANG PULAU KAMIPAI DANCE
This
dance describes the love between an. ordinary man and a nymph from
heaven, the story being similar to the Jakatarub story in Java and.the
Rajapala.story in Bali.
The story of the Mak Inang Pulau Kampai Dance is as follows;
A nymph
from heaven is bathing in a mountain lake. While she bathes in the
cool, clear water a young man who has fallen in love with her, steals
her clothes. Having bathed to her heart's content, she goes ashore
to get dressed, but is -shocked to find that her clothes are not
there. Hiding herself, she sobs her heart out. At that moment the
handsome young man approaches her and says that the clothes are
with him, and that he will return them, provided she is willing
to be his wife. As there is no other alternative to accepting his
proposal, she agrees. It turns out, however, that she too is attracted
by the handsome young man. After the clothes have. been returned
the couple occupy themselves by dancing near the lake. Then the
nymph tells her lover that it is time for her to return to heaven,
and hopes that they will meet again the next day. She then flies
up into the air, the young man sadly trying to prevent her from
going.
THE
EMPAT SERANGKAI DANCE
The
Empat Serangkai Dance is a peasant dance from North Sumatra. It
is called Empat Serangkai because. the choreography combines four
kinds of dances from North Sumatra. It describes the peasants from
North Sumatra cultivating the land. First the dancers imitate the
movements of peasants cultivating the land, next planting rice,
then weeding, and finally, harvesting the rice. This kind of dance,
as previously explained is also very populer in Bali and West Java.
THE
GALUAH DANCE
The
Galuah Dance (the Coconut Shell Dance) is a new dance from West.
Sumatra. It describes the joy of coconut-planting in West Sumatra.
The coconut planters, who have succeeded in picking an enormous
number of coconuts, dance joyously, holding two coconut shells in
each hand. As they dance their coconut shells are rapidly
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