The Ngajat Iban dance

Since I was young, I have seen Ngajat Iban dance for several times performed by my Iban friends. It is a dance originated by Dayak tribute in Sarawak.Originally, it was meant to be performed by Iban warriors to celebrate the victorious of their headhunting and tribal or territorial expansion. But now, in the modern era, the dance is longer for the purpose of celebrating the victory of battles.

Currently, Ngajat Iban Dance is a unique dance which served many purposes depending on the occasion. Basically,it is served on the most important harvest festival called "Gawai" on the first day of June to invite guests to their longhouse and to entertain the people who in the olden days enjoy graceful ngajats a form of entertainment.

Traditionally,only male dancers performed the dance but not anymore. The male dancers and the female dancers have different ways and styles of ngajat. The ngajat for men is more aggressive and representing a man going to battle or bird flying (in showing respect to the Iban God of War,Singalang Burong). However,the women's form of ngajat is made up of soft,graceful movements with very accurate and precise body turns.

The male dancers wear large feathers as part of their headgear, hold an ornate and long shield in their hand with chains, beads and a loincloth called the ‘cawat’. The female dancers have an elaborate headdress, chains, beads and a ‘dress’ that reaches to below their knees with intricate weaving.The dance is arranged straight lines and in a circle and does involve dramatic leaps and jumps performed by the male dancers.

Each Ngajat Iban Dance is accompanied by an Iban traditionally music called "taboh". Taboh is performed using gongs and other ethnic percussion instruments such as "enkerumung", "bendai", "canang" and "dumbak" or "ketawak".

I found Ngajat Iban Dance interesting because of the apparent different dancing styles of the male and the female in a dance. Besides, I think that the influences of my Iban friends also makes me fall for this unique traditionally dance in Sarawak.

Makyong dance

During last holiday, I have been to Akademi Seni Budaya Dan Warisan Kebangsaan(ASWARA) to watch the undergraduated students to perform their course dance performance. That is the first time I was exposed to Makyong dance.

Makyong dance left me with a memorable impression of the costume and the changes of the beat of the music. It is later that I found out both elements are important parts of the dance besides the movements of dance. We should also pay attention to the story or old-tale which the dance itself is meant to be performed. Makyong is said to be an old dance of Kelantan which was performed in theatre form that tells a story about the gods and spirits, orges or giants,palace functionaries and animals. Usually, the dancers are mostly female even the man lead role-"pak yong" and addition role such as "mak yong" ,the clowns(peran), the attendants (inang) and the minor roles of the character to be told by the dance-theatre.

There is a strong leading music orchestra for the dance as dancing and singing are mostly required in the dance. The musical instruments that produce the music of the dance are gongs, rebab and gendang. Sometimes, the dancers need to sing the haunting melody to add colour to the dance. At the beginning of every Makyong dance performance, Mengadap Rebab dance is always performed. The dance is normally ended with graceful gestures of the main leading dancers sitting on the stage.