Indonesian Silat Traditional Dance & Theater ~ A Study in Traditional Silat
Indonesian Silat Traditional Dance & Theater ~ A Study in Traditional Silat
Manoa’s Kennedy Theatre hosted Luck and Loss: Manadin’s Gamble, a traditional Indonesian Randai in English in January and February 2006. '
This West Sumatran folk play featured martial arts, dance, singing, music and pants-slapping percussion. Luck and Loss: Manadin's Gamble is a coming-of-age story about love, gambling and adventure. It is a tale of romance, mischief and combat that is encased in percussive and energetic dance sequences.
This film showcases the Randai theater of the Minangkabau of West Sumatra, one of over 250 different ethnic groups in the Indonesian archipelago. Randai is a folk tradition which incorporates music, singing, dance, drama and the silat martial art. Randai is usually performed for traditional ceremonies and festivals, and complex stories may span a number of nights. It is performed as a theatre-in-the-round to achieve an equality and unity between audience members and the performers. Randai originated early in the 20th century out of fusion of local martial arts, story-telling and other performance traditions. Men originally played both the male and female characters in the story, but since the 1960s women have also participated. A vibrant and exciting composite theater form, Randai incorporates storytelling, dance, music, and martial arts into a unique blend of performing arts. One of the highlights of Randai is experiencing the interplay between the dancer and musicians in the segments that break up the short dramatic exchanges.
Randai also offers insights into the indigenous martial arts form silek and is of interest to martial artists in general. It will be of great value to students and teachers in world theater and dance, in Asian studies, and in cultural studies.
The project was organized and produced by Professor Kirstin Pauka, faculty in the Asian Theatre Program at the University of Hawaii.