The Minangkabau people are rich in culture. Some of his cultural wealth is very rich in various parts, such as in the culinary and artistic fields. In the arts, the Minangkabau tribe has several traditional dances. One of the traditional dances is called Candle Dance. However, what is this Candle Dance like? Does Candlelight Dance have any interest?
Candle Dance is a traditional dance of the Minangkabau people in West Sumatra. As the name suggests, this dance is played by dancers using a small plate with a candle burning on it as an attribute of dancing.
The candle dance is played by a group of dancers with attractive movements and in tune with the accompanying music. Candle Dance is a famous dance in Indonesia.
This traditional dance was once a court dance and is usually performed at night. It is said that the origin of this dance cannot be separated from folklore. In this folklore, it is told that in ancient times there was a girl who was abandoned by her fiance to go to trade.
One day the girl lost her engagement ring, then she looked for the ring late into the night using a candle placed on the plate.
In her search for the ring, the girl has to go around the yard of her house, even she has to bend down to light the ground and sometimes the girl’s movements look like they are moving swerving so that it looks like a beautiful dance move. From here, this Candle Dance was born and became known among village girls.
This traditional dance was used only during traditional events, namely as an expression of gratitude to God for the results and achievements that the community has obtained. Along with the times, the function of Candle Dance is now not only displayed for traditional events, but also as art and entertainment.
Candle dance is usually performed by a group of female dancers. However, there are also some male and female dancers in pairs. In the show, the dancers dance with small plates and burning candles placed in the palms of their hands. They dance along to the music that accompanies them.
The Candle Dance movements tend to be gentle, thus showing the beauty of the dance movements. In addition, this gentle movement is also to keep the candle flame from being extinguished easily.
Some movements in Candlelight Dance are usually dominated by hand-swinging movements, movements such as prayer, bending movements, and rotating movements.
In addition, there are also several movements performed in a sitting position, namely by playing beautiful hand movements. This dance movement looks attractive when the dancers play the candles by flipping and followed by the dancer’s twisting movements.
Of course, special skills and training are needed in dancing this Candle Dance. Because if not, then the candle will easily dim and even fall, so that it can damage the dance movement itself.
Candle Dance is usually accompanied by typical Sumatran Malay music. Some of the musical instruments that usually accompany this Candle Dance include accordion, violin, gong, guitar, saxophone, kenong, bonang, drum, and tok-tok.
Candle dance dancers are usually Minangkabau traditional clothing from West Sumatra. Among them are tengkuluak (headdress), batabue clothes (top clothing), lambak (underclothes), salampang, and some jewelry such as dukuah (necklace), galang (bracelet), and rings.
Hopefully this article that we have written and discussed can be useful and increase knowledge about traditional Indonesian arts. So, are you interested in learning about one of Indonesia’s cultures called Candle Dance?
