Dance—Malaysia
Dances in Malaysia are categorized into court-classical dances, folk dances, ethnic-tribe dances, and dances from immigrant communities such as Chinese, Indian, and Portuguese, as well as modern dance. Although Malaysia is a Malay-dominated nation, it is multiethnic.
Court and folk dances are mainly Malay. Even though Malaysia has thirteen states plus the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan, Sabah, only nine sultanates survived—Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Johor. Melaka, regarded as the beginning of Malay civilization in the fifteenth century, was captured by the Portuguese in 1511. The fall of Melaka resulted in the birth of other sultanates such as Johor and Perak. The Malay court dances originated from these courts. The courts of the northern Malay states of peninsular Malaysia are perceived as culturally richer. The best-known court dance is Asyik from Kelantan.
Other dances include inai of Perlis, gamelan of Terengganu, and mak yong of Kelantan, the latter being dance theater that encompasses many dances within it, such as Mengadap Rebab and Belan-belan Bejalan. Some of the Malay folk dances were also performed at court for special social functions, either as presentation or as social dance, such as joget. The word joget could actually be translated as "dance" but is commonly translated as "folk dance." The court-classical dances are normally much slower and performed by women, which is one of the reasons why the court dances disappeared after these courts became more Islamic. The folk dances are normally performed as social dance in villages for special occasions such as weddings and engagements. The ethnic-tribe dances are common among ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak as well as among the Orang Asli (Original People) of peninsular Malaysia. Most of the ethnic-tribe dances are related to rituals of tribes, such as the harvest festival.
Other dances include ballet, modern, and contemporary dance. Contemporary dance in Malaysia is not restricted to Western modern and contemporary dance, but includes contemporary Malaysian dancesthat include Chinese, Indian, Malay, and ethnic issues. Perhaps the early contemporary dances could be traced to dances created for films in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s, contemporary dances developed further when dance and theater groups collaborated for new works. Today, the contemporary dances continue to be developed by incorporating Malaysian issues (that is, issues that affect all citizens of Malaysia, not just ethnically Malay citizens) rather than Malay issues, especially with new performance venues and the Malaysia Dance Society and National Arts Academy teaching both traditional and contemporary dances. Traditional Malay and ethnic dances continue to be performed for tourists.
Dayak women performing in a costumed dance drama in Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia. (CHARLES & JOSETTE LENARS/CORBIS)Further Reading
Brandon, James R., ed. (1993) Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Brandon, James R. (1967) Theatre in Southeast Asia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Nasaruddin, Mohamed Ghouse. (1994) Malay Dance. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: DBP.
——. (1991) Malay Music Tradition Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: DBP.
Winstedt, Richard O. (1950) The Malays, a Cultural History. New York: Philosophical Library.
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