Rasas 2022: Dances from Aceh

Discover the rich culture of Asia’s traditional dances in the region with Rasas. This year, Rasas spotlights dance forms from two different regions of Indonesia—Bali and Aceh, presenting their diverse dance forms and cultural heritage.

Aceh, Indonesia is a region brimming with arts and cultural activities. For hundreds of years, arts and culture have continuously evolved with the lives of the community in this region, even amidst tumultuous events. Sanggar Seni Seulaweut presents three dynamic dance forms from Aceh, saman, rapa’i geleng, and likok pulo.

Saman was first created in the 14th century in the highlands of Gayo, and is now a traditional dance of the Gayo people. This form was inscribed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011. It is characterised by its formation, where dancers sit together in a single horizontal line side-by-side. The dancers move simultaneously by patting their thighs, chest and hands to create a rhythm, accompanied by the chanting of poetry.

Rapa’i geleng is an ethnic dance that originated from Manggeng in Southern Aceh, one that promotes cooperation, togetherness and solidarity within a community. It was first developed in 1965 and is meant to be performed by 12 male dancers. The dance has three sections: saleum (greetings), kisah (the telling of a story related to the Prophet, kings, or religious teachings) and lani (closing). It is characterised by changing rhythms and speed of movement, where dancers sit cross-legged while twisting their bodies left and right.

Likok pulo is a traditional dance that was created in 1849. Likok means dance movement, while pulo means island, specifical referring to a small island at the far edge of Sumatra named Breuh or Beras island. This dance is held after planting or harvesting rice, usually performed at night. Similar to saman and rapa’i geleng, the dance is performed while sitting in a straight line side-by-side, utilising the upper part of the body, accompanied by vocalisations of poetry from Aceh.

Interested to learn some basic movements of the saman dance? Find out more about Rasas Workshop: Wonderful Saman Gayo! The workshop is suitable for people with no dance experience.