Monday, August 26, 2013

PRESERVATION OF DANCE IN MALAYSIAN CULTURE

My final choosen idea for my Final Year Project is "Dance Culture In Malaysia."


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During my research I came across the MMU dance society which specialize in Malay,Indian and Chinese dances. For my project the focus is on Malay race. 

PRECEDENCE STUDIES














ABOUT

Generally, Malay dances are divided into two main categories which are the “original” Malay dances and “adopted” Malay dances. The “original” Malay dances are indigenous to the Malay region, encompassing Sumatra, the Malay Peninsular, Singapore, the Riau Archipelago and Borneo, and its origins can be traced back to the early Malay civilizations. The “adopted” Malay dances are influenced by foreign cultures due to political and historical events. The various forms or styles of Malay dance are further categorized by its beats (rentak) and rhythm (irama).

JOGETThe Joget dance (also called the Ronggeng) was introduced to the Malays in Malacca during the early 16th century. Its origins may be traced back to two popular Portuguese folk dances and Middle East. It is  performed at cultural festivals, wedding celebrations and many other social functions.Joget is also known as the Rentak Lagu Dua which describes the interaction between couples in portraying a song with liveliness and cheerfulness.  It has 12 stages of dance steps depicting the love story of a couple from courtship till their wedding.




How its done? Joget follows the rythm of the music instruments. It is a 1 & 2 step by step dance. There is transference of weight to the 1 & 2 beats.

ZAPIN  Zapin dance on Malay culture and arts started alongside the spread of the Islamic religion in the 15th century.The word “Zapin” itself means “feet movement." This dance and its music was introduced by Arab traders form Yemen. Zapin performances were popular among the royalty. The music for Zapin comes from traditional instruments, which includes the lute gambus), gypsy type bongos (marwas), small single-frame hand drums (rafa’i), accordion and violin.




How its done Zapin is a 8-16 count step dance with a sway of hand movements.The first part is called the taqsim or introduction. This is where the gambus is played in a solo manner as an opening of the performance. Simultaneously, the dancers enter the stage and perform the sembah or act of respect to the audience. As the performance progress, the dancers perform various steps and legwork movements. The second part is at the end of every quatrain or pantun, where the music and beating of the drums is played in a rapid beat manner known as tingkah or kopak while the dancers move in a jumping manner called the minta tahto. The third part is the end of the performance, which is known as the tahtim, whereby the dancers will perform the wainab movements to close the performance.


INANG: This dance moves at fast tempo set by the rebana, biola and gendang.
The Mak Inang song and dance originated during the period of the Malacca Sultanate. The song is said to have been composed by the order of Sultan Mahmud Shah possibly as a lullaby to help him go to sleep. 
The dance is very graceful and has all the qualities of a palace performance. This dance is also called Tarian Si Kembang Cina as it has a strong Chinese flavour in the music. Sometimes the dancers hold long scarves during the performance. 

How its done? 



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