FUSE#5

FUSE #5
Quirky Facts about Malay Dance in Singapore
The 5 Malay music/dance genres that practitioners in Singapore practise
are Asli, Inang, Masri, Joget and Zapin which are pan-Malay folk
forms shared amongst communities of practitioners of the Malay world.
Instead of merely providing basic information about Malay dance, I write
4 quirky facts about Malay dance. Why quirky? Because these facts are
“unexpected” and not insights that are easily packaged and available for
the consumption of non-practising readers!
1. Much Ado About Taxonomies
The term “tari” which is the Malay equivalent for dance is in fact a
term that was popularised during the colonial period to fit rigid artistic
categories from the West. The Malay world is replete with indigenous
taxonomies that also describe dancing or moving specific body parts
such as tandak, igal and liok. 1
In Singapore the argument between “traditionalists'' and “innovators”
have pushed for the creation of various umbrella genres,
in particular what constitutes as tradisional (traditional); kreasi (new
creation); and kontemporari (contemporary). Tradisional is relatively
regarded as a repertoire that continues to be practised actively today
since its creation many years ago and its form “unchanged”. Kreasi
refers to the creative re-creations of the traditional form yet maintaining
elements of traditional Malay dance without crossing into the
boundaries of the “contemporary”.
The kontemporari has received much attention in the past decade
and as an active practitioner today, there have been debates on whether
kontemporari Malay dance has lost its Malay essence. Thus the need
to make it kontemporari melayu as a reminder that even in the pursuit
of contemporaneity, practitioners must always ensure that the Malay
essence remains intact. Interestingly this “essence” also includes religious
(Islamic) obligations as most Malays are Malay-Muslims.
The preoccupation with the definition of these genres has been
hotly debated throughout different generations and continue to be a
topic amongst practitioners today.
2. Collective Identities
Malay dance continues to be a practice that is dependent on a
guru-siswah (master-disciple) relationship. Students at most times are
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