Dance of Indonesia

Indonesian dances

(Indonesian: Tarian Indonesia) are the reflection of the country’s diversity. There are a lot of styles depending on the ethnicities and cultures behind them. With more than 700 ethnic groups in Indonesia, you can find anything from the Austronesian roots to Melanesian tribal forms, with influences ranging from neighboring Asian and even western styles through colonization. However, in regards to the more holistic approach, the dances of Indonesia can be divided into three kinds of stages: Prehistoric Era, the Era of Hinduism and Buddhism, and the Era of Islam. Moreover, dances are divided int two: Court Dances and Folk Dances.

Influences of the Prehistoric Era

Prior to the immense contact to the outer world, the people of the Indonesian archipelago had already developed their own unique styles of dancing. These styles are still somewhat preserved by the tribes all over Indonesia who resist outside influences and chose tribal life. These are true to the people in the inland of Sumatra (example: Batak, Nias, Mentawai), inland of Kalimantan/Borneo (example: Dayak, Punan, Iban), inland of Java (example: Badui), inland of Sulawesi (example: Toraja), inland of Moluccan Islands, and the inland of Papua (example: Dani, Amungme). The dances of these people are usually in relations with some sort of ritual. Like the war dance in Papua, or the dance of witch doctors of Dayak. Usually characterized by the repetitive movements like the Tor-Tor dance of Batak people (North Sumatra)........

Influences of the Hinduism and Buddhism Era

The advent of Dharmic religions in Indonesia brought changes to the whole dancing scene. Hinduism and Buddhism were celebrated not only in rituals , but also in the art world. The most obvious change was the way they incorporated stories in the dance, which is called “Sendratari. Glorious epic of Ramayana and Mahabharata was and still adored by the people, and the stories are told in Sendrataris. Combining native styles of dances and stories from the Dharmic religions proved to be very successful. Highly stylized methods of dances were developed in these fashions, as it’s still obvious nowadays, especially in the islands of Java and Bali.Although drawing story inspirations from Dharmic teachings, the dances themselves are very distinct to those of Indian dances. While hand gestures are still very important, Indonesian dancers don’t have the similar attention to the mudras as they are in India. Instead, the dances incorporated local cultures.For example, even though closely related to each other, and took the same stories as inspirations, Javanese and Balinese dances use different approach. While Javanese court dances stressed on the graceful and slow movements, the dances of Balinese court are dynamic and very expressive.It should be noted that not all of the dances in this era was of Dharmic inspirations. Some dances were invented to accommodate certain rituals which roots in indigenous tradition. For example, Tari Sanghyang Dedari is a very special dance of Bali, in which the dancers are pre-pubescent girls in trance, chasing away bad spirits. Or it could just as simple as inspirations from the nature, such as Tari Merak (Peafowl dance) of West Java.

Influences of the Islamic Era

As people slowly converting to the new religion of Islam, they still haven’t forgotten their native and Dharmaic-inspired dances, and those dances retain its popularity. Hence, the style of dance in this era wasn’t changing dramatically. Artists and performers would still use the styles of the previous eras, making changes in stories (which took Islamic turn) and clothing (which became more moderate in respect of Islamic teachings). These are obvious if you examine Tari Persembahan from Jambi. The dancers are still adorned with golden intricate from the Hinduism/Buddhism era, but the clothing became more moderate.Still, the new era made way to newer styles of dances. Zapin dances of the Malay people and Acehnese Tari Saman adopt styles from Arab and Persia and combine them with indigenous styles of dance to form the newer generation of dances in Indonesia, in the era of Islam.

ee also

*Javanese dance