Asian Folk Dances

Last Sunday, March 07, 2010. The University of Cebu, College of Education Presented the
MYSTIC ASEAN at Emall activity center. The show directed by Ceasar Amirhassan Nimor.

This is all about, the world’s famous folk dances. Watching the shows gave us a glimpse of the people in different countries and how beautiful their culture. I was mesmerized by their lovely performances and dresses. Aside from that, it seems I traveled all around the world.

Malaysia
The wau bulan is an intricately designed Malaysian moon-kite that is traditionally flown by men in the Malaysian state of Kelantan. It’s one of the Malaysia’s national symbols. Its gracefully flight is portrayed in a folk dance which symbolizes the soaring spirit of its youth.

Thailand
Thailand is a culturally-diverse nation. The Loy Krathnong held on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the Western calendar this usually falls in November. Is a much celebrated offering festival in the predominantly-Buddhist of the country. The south, represented by a fan dance Rabum Taree Geepus has its strong link to nearby Malaysia is chiefly Islamic in faith and culture.

Indonesia
Indonesia has around 300 ethnic groups, each with cultural differences developed over centuries, and influenced by Indian, Arabic, Chinese, Malay, and European sources. Traditional Javanese, Minangkabau and Balinese dances, for example, typify strong contrasts of culture among the component islands of the archipelago.

Singapore
Singapore is highly cosmopolitan and diverse, a mixture of an ethnic Malay population with a Chinese majority, as well as Indian and Arab immigrants. There also exist significant Eurasian and Peranakan communities. Despite the diversity, the various ethnic groups have strived to unite into a harmonious nation.

Timor-Leste
According to a legend, an old crocodile and a boy as his close friend set off for the east, and they traveled the oceans for years searching for the place of the rising sun. as the crocodile died, he grew and grew, and his ridged back became the mountains and his scale the hills of Timor Lorosae, the young nation of Timor-Leste.

Vietnam
The non la, the conical hat of palm leaves has a sort of informal Vietnamese national symbol of charm that is recognized worldwide. It is the non la which gives shelter to the Vietnamese ladies’ blushing cheeks like a crowing bud protected from sun, rain or rough wind.

Brunei Darussalam
There is a wide array of native folk music, and dance. Brunei shares some cultural perspectives and links with the countries of South Asia such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines. The strong Islamic influence means that dance performances and music are somewhat restricted. One folk dance is the Adai Adai which performed to a group work song sung by fisher people while they fished.

Laos
The Traditional Lao dance is called the lum vong. All the dancers form a circle. The size of the circle depends on the song being played, the lam or morlam. All the dancers will move in a circular way repeating the circle until the song stops. The circle and the dance are varying coordinated and oriented. Despite the complexity of the fingers, this is one of the easiest dances of Southeast Asia that even a non-Lao can perform.

Myanmar
Thing water Festival marks the start of the Burmese lunar calendar New Year, which occurs in mid-April at the height of summer heat. The Festival is celebrated with water as a symbol of the flow of time, washing away past misdeeds to provide spiritual renewal, and greeting the up-coming monsoon to bring a bountiful new beginning. This three-day festival in Burma is celebrated with splashing water, the performances, courtship, general good cheer and dancing which is preceded by the jolly joker dance of the old bachelor U Shwe Yoe and his lady love Daw Moe.

Cambodia
The Kingdom of Cambodia is dominated by the imposing temple of Angkor Wat and the Mekong River and the Tonle’ Sap (the fresh water lake), an important source of fish and paddies for the growing of rice. Majority of its population are the Khmer traditionally represented by the checkered cloth called the kroma. There is a considerable number of Muslim Charms who are easily identified by their traditional dresses resembling those worn by the Malays.

Philippines
The Spaniards used religion as an excuse to capture Filipino’s hearts and minds, the Americans redirected the Filipino way of thinking through education. Because of these, the Filipino have neglected and set their own Malay-based culture and identify, making the country a chiefly westernized country in the whole of the ASEAN. The existing folk music and dances are evidences of such redirection.

Happy Monday! Hope you learn something about Asian Dances and Cultures.


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