Sharing Identities

Celebrating Dance in Malaysia

Mohd Anis Md Nor, Stephanie Burridge, Mohd Anis Md Nor, Stephanie Burridge

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000083729
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

This anthology celebrates dancing diversities in Malaysia, a multicultural nation with old and not-so-old dance traditions in a synchronicity of history, creativity, inventions and representation of its people, culture and traditions. These articles and interviews document the legacy of dances from the Malay Sultanates to a contemporary remix of old and new dances aspired by a mélange of influences from the old world of India, China, European and indigenous dance traditions. This gives forth dance cultures that vibrate with multicultural dance experiences. Narratives of eclecticism, syncretic and innovative dance forms and styles reflect the processes of inventing and sharing of dance identities from the era of the colonial Malay states to post-independence Malaysia.

1
Joget Gamelan — The Royal Dance of the Pahang and Terengganu Courts

Marion D’Cruz

Joget Gamelan is the term used to describe a female classical dance tradition of Malaysia. Once performed in the royal courts of the east coast states of Pahang and Terengganu, it has found its place today in the dance world of contemporary Malaysia. It is considered one of the most important forms of classical Malay dance and is performed by several companies for a variety of occasions.

The word joget literally means ‘dance’ in the Malay language. Joget is also a generic name for one of the most popular social dances of Portuguese origin. During the course of its history, Joget Gamelan has had several names — Joget Pahang, Joget Terengganu and Joget Gamelan. The Indonesian word gamelan, from the root word gamel meaning ‘hit’ or ‘struck’ is also a generic term meaning ‘orchestra’. However, today the term is commonly used to refer to a specific ensemble of musical instruments found in Indonesia and Malaysia and consisting principally of gongs, metal xylophones and drums. In Indonesia, the number of instruments range from a few to as many as 75. In its contemporary practice, Joget Gamelan is a court-derived dance form performed with the music of an accompanying gamelan ensemble sufficiently distinct to justify it being called the Gamelan Melayu.

The traditional Gamelan Melayu ensemble comprises seven instruments:

• the Sarun Barung, a six-keyed metal xylophone;
• the Sarun Peking, a six-keyed metal xylophone of higher pitch;
• the Gambang Kayu, a wooden xylophone with 20 keys;
• the Keromong, a gong chime set of 10 inverted gongs in a frame;
• the Kenong, a gong chime set of three inverted knobbed gongs on resonator boxes;
• the Gong Ageng and Gong Suwukan, two large suspended gongs; and
• the Gendang, a double-headed barrel drum.

While there are basic similarities between the Gamelan Melayu and the Indonesian gamelan, they differ significantly in instrumentation, scale and music.

Historical Development (Mid- 18th century-19th century)

The practice of Joget Gamelan dates back to the mid-18th century when active court patronage was provided for the arts in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. Among the various courts that patronized the arts, those of Surakarta and Jogjakarta in central Java were particularly active.¹ Many of the South-east Asian courts maintained their own groups of dancers and musicians whose sole function was to perform in the royal precincts. In Javanese courts, classical Javanese dances and gamelan music were performed. In the mid-18th century, a team of court dancers and musicians was sent from central Java to the island of Penyengat, the royal island capital of the Riau-Lingga empire.² Javanese style court dance and music were, therefore, introduced at the Istana Kuning (the Yellow Palace), the Penyengat palace, the music being that of the gamelan and the dances consisting mainly of the Serimpi and Bedaya, the main classical dances of the central Javanese courts.

¹ Court patronage of the arts in Java dates back to the Javanese kingdoms of Jogjakarta and Surakarta. Refer to C. Holt, Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1967.

² This information was gathered from informants at Penyengat. No written records exist.

The 19th-century Riau-Lingga empire was vast. It included the peninsula states of Johor, Pahang and Terengganu, the Riau Archipelago and the Karimon islands and, indeed, loosely, all those parts of Peninsula Malaya over which the colonialists did not exert official control. The states of Johor and Pahang were vassals of the Riau-Lingga empire and, although the bendaharas or regents of these two states were virtually independent, they neverthe less paid tribute to their overlord at Penyengat. It was through this association of Pahang with the Riau-Lingga empire that Javanese court dance and music found their way into the Pahang court.

The first occasion for such a phenomenon was the 1811 royal wedding in Pekan, Pahang, of Tengku Husain, the eldest son of Sultan Abdul Rahman of Riau-Lingga and Wan Esah, the sister of Bendahara Wan Ali of Pahang when ‘... the wedding celebrations were enlivened by elaborate court dances, to the accompaniment of an orchestra of gongs and xylophones, which were found only at the Malay courts of Pahang and Lingga’.³ While it is not known when this particular form of dance and music began in the Pahang court, it is evident, however, that by 1811 the tradition was known and practiced in the Pekan palace.

³ M. Sheppard, ‘Joget Gamelan of Trengganu’, Straits Times Annual, Kuala Lumpur: New Straits Times Press, 1969, p. 81.

Bendahara Wan Ahmad, later Sultan Ahmad (1863–1914), inherited the gamelan set as well as the court troupe of dancers and musicians from his father, Bendahara Wan Ali. The form, now called Joget Pahang, was firmly established at the Pekan palace under the royal patronage of Bendahara Wan Ahmad. His interest in the form was keen. He obtained three separate sets of gamelan instruments and established three groups of four dancers each. Of his five wives, three maintained a group each: one group was under his royal wife, Tengku Ampuan Fatimah, another under Che Besar and the third under Che Zubedah. Sultan Ahmad and his third wife, Che Zubedah, were particularly interested in Joget Pahang. Che Zubedah was a Chinese, and it is believed that she greatly influenced the development of Joget Pahang, spending much time and effort particularly in perfecting the dances.

One can clearly identify many ‘Chinese’ characteristics in Joget Gamelan. For example, elements of the costume like the manner in which the sarong is tied, and the particularities of the unusual headdress are a clear deviation from other Malay classical dance costume styles and from Serimpi and Bedaya. Also, the music of the dance Timang Burung, one of the most popular from the Joget Gamelan repertoire is, in fact, an old and familiar Chinese folk song.

The tradition of Joget Pahang was, therefore, firmly established in the Pahang court by the end of the 19th century. Court dancers and musicians trained rigorously from an early age and, in most cases, they were full-time court artists. The dancers and some of the musicians were the children of various court personnel — the Sultan himself, the aristocracy, relatives of the Sultan and Sultanah (his consort) resident in the court, attendants, courtiers, and servants. A few members of the troupe, especially among the musicians, were also royal servants, cooks, courtiers, and attendants. Hence, they fulfilled a dual role in the court. Outsiders were never allowed to become musicians or dancers in a court troupe. Swettenham recalls, ‘the dancers “budak joget” belong to the Raja’s household, they may even be attached to him by a closer tie’.⁴ Little is known about the actual working of the troupes in the Pahang court, except that they rehearsed daily and performed for various occasions such as weddings, birthdays, festivals and gave private performances for special guests. It is one such occasion that Swettenham witnessed and describes.⁵

⁴ F. Swettenham, ‘The Joget’, Malay Sketches, London: The Ballantyne Press, 1895, p. 45.

⁵ Ibid., pp. 44–51.

During the reign of Sultan Ahmad of Pahang, Joget Pahang was introduced into the state of Terengganu. In 1885, a marriage took place between Sultan Zainal Abidin (1881–1918) of Terengganu and Tengku Long, daughter of Sultan Ahmad of Pahang. At this wedding, Sultan Zainal Abidin witnessed Joget Pahang for the first time and was impressed.⁶ Eventually, he borrowed a set of instruments and musicians from Sultan Ahmad and began the playing of gamelan music in his own court.

⁶ M. Sheppard, ‘Joget Gamelan of Trengganu’, 1969, p. 80.

Throughout the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th, similar instruments and dancers were maintained at Penyengat, the island capital of Lingga. The abdication, under Dutch pressure, of the last Sultan of Riau-Lingga in 1912 and the death of Sultan Ahmad of Pahang in1914, marked the end of an era of Malay court entertainment. Penyengat was deserted and Sultan Ahmad’s successors in Pekan did not share his affection for Joget Pahang.⁷

⁷ Ibid., p. 81.

Nothing remains in Penyengat today of its past glories. On that island and on the neighbouring islands of the former Riau-Lingga empire, there are no traces of past court traditions. Cultural activity in this area today includes folk dance forms, Mak Yong dance theatre and Wayang Orang, and even this is limited and not court-supported.⁸ Penyengat, now a small fishing village, has only the ruins of Istana Kuning as evidence of its former status.

⁸ Mak Yong and Wayang Orang are two forms of dance drama. Mak Yong is found in Malaysia, while Wayang Orang is found mainly in Indonesia.

Joget Gamelan, as performed in Malaysia today, is not found anywhere in the Riau islands or in Java. It has, however, basic similarities with present-day Javanese court dance. However, there is no doubt that Joget Gamelan stands today as being particularly unique to the Malay Peninsula with its own distinctive style and character.

In the Malay Peninsula, events took a luckier turn for Joget Gamelan. The highly specialized skills of the dancers and musicians were in danger of extinction when they were rescued by a young princess, Tengku Mariam, daughter of Sultan Ahmad and Che Zubedah of Pahang. From an early age, Tengku Mariam had been dancing Joget Pahang in her mother’s troupe, and had shown a profound interest in the form. In 1913, Tengku Mariam married Tengku Sulaiman of Terengganu, who became sultan of that state in 1920. In 1914, after her father’s death, Tengku Mariam and her husband, Tengku Sulaiman, borrowed the dancers and the gamelan set belonging to Che Zubedah, taking them from Pekan to Kuala Terengganu, the royal capital of Terengganu. Tengku Mariam’s personal interest in Joget Pahang was intense and she herself helped train four Terengganu girls to dance, while Tengku Sulaiman chose a number of Terengganu men who learnt to play the gamelan. In 1920, when Tengku Sulaiman succeeded to the Terengganu throne, ‘a Terengganu Joget Gamelan was installed at the Istana Maziah (the Maziah Palace) and became the favourite entertainment both, of official guests and of the royal family when they were alone’.⁹

⁹ M. Sheppard, ‘Joget Gamelan of Trengganu’, p. 82.

Joget Gamelan in the Terengganu Court (1914-42)

The practice of Joget Gamelan in the Istana Maziah of Kuala Terengganu was a highly disciplined and important affair. The prosperity of the court and the personal interest of the sultan favoured a significant patronage of such an art form. The dancers and musicians were regarded with seriousness and given prominence. The dancers were the daughters of various court personnel such as the Sultan himself, court aristocracy, relatives of the royal family residing in the royal household, attendants, courtiers and servants. As was the case in the Pahang court, in the Terengganu palace too, outsiders were not allowed into the palace dance troupe. The dancers were called ‘anak angkat’ or ‘adopted daughters’ of Tengku Ampuan Mariam.

A court dancer began training from the early age of about 10. She lived in the court and, in most cases, dancing was her only occupation. The dancers were considered to be delicate and hence were not allowed to do any other work of court maidens such as cooking or cleaning. They were not allowed, for example, to gather wood or hold anything hard lest their soft hands should harden. Dance training, however, was strict, disciplined and rigorous. Various formal exercises were carried out to enable the dancers to attain a high level of flexibility, skill and gracefulness. If the performance of a girl training to be a dancer was found to be unsatisfactory, she was not allowed to remain in the troupe. Therefore, only the very best eventually succeeded in becoming fully-fledged court dancers. Apart from learning how to dance, the dancers were also required to learn to play dance tunes on the gamelan. Thus, they were familiar with gamelan music as well as being trained dancers.

Dance training and rehearsals were held every day in the court. For rehearsals, a less elaborate practice version of the Joget Gamelan costume was used. The rehearsals were either held in a special room at the Istana Maziah or, sometimes, at Istana Kolam (the Pond Palace), the private residence of Tengku Ampuan Mariam. The dancers were trained by Tengku Ampuan Mariam herself. In addition, when the Joget Pahang was first i...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Joget Gamelan: The Royal Dance of the Pahang and Terengganu Courts
• 2. Asyik Dance: From Kelantanese Palace to a National Heritage
• 3. Eclecticism and Syncretic Traditions: The Making of Malay Folk Dance
• 4. Five-Six-Seven-Eight! . . . Tracing the Malaysian Roots of Jazz Dance
• 5. Transnationalism among Malaysian Contemporary Dance Choreographers
• 6. From Ballet to Modern Dance: Tracing Modernity in Malaysian Dance
• 7. The Making of Malaysian Contemporary Dance by Chinese Choreographers and Dancers
• 8. Bharatanatyam in Malaysia
• 9. Dancing the Strong Woman: Celebrating Women, Feminism and Contemporary Dance in Malaysia
• 10. Dance and Ritual in Sabah
• 11. Dancing with the Pen
• Artist Voices and Biographies
• Index