On all occasions of great festivities, such as the planting the seeds, or gathering in of the harvest, a stage of bamboo is erected in front of the door of the village chief, on which the offerings to the gods are placed, consisting of the choices morsels from the plentiful feast which is always provided on these occasions. From this food, the gods are supposed to extract essence, and the remnants are eaten as sacred morsels at the conclusion of the festival (Low, 1988: 251).From the observation made by Low, it is clear that the Bidayuh are essentially an egalitarian society whose livelihood, customs, traditions and practices are rooted in the land. Hence, the traditional dances, which the Bidayuh practiced, are closely akin to their way of life.
With the spread of Christianity in most Bidayuh areas coupled with the fast phase of modernization, urbanization, development and the influence of western culture and the birth of the Bidayuh bauh, it is feared that our rich cultural heritage will not be practiced by the younger generation. Because of this fear, it is felt that there is a need to safe guard, nurture and promote these traditional dances. Towards this end, it would be appropriate for the Dayak Bidayuh National Association through its Cultural Subcommittee to continue to promote these traditional dances in various ways and play a more proactive role to promote, supervise, monitor and teach these traditional dances in the villages and schools. The Dayak Bidayuh National Association and its branches and units could work together the Village Development and Security Committee at the respective villages to coordinate these activities. More dance instructors should be trained to ensure the authenticity of the dances. At the same time, parents, teachers and community leaders should encourage the younger generations to participate in this healthy activities.
Unfortunately, only the elderly are well versed in these traditional dances. On the other hand, the younger generations seem not to have the time or opportunity to master the skills. If this phenomenon persists, it is feared that these dances will soon be forgotten and abandoned by the younger generations. The older people should pass the skills to the younger generations, and the younger generations must be ready to accept this cultural heritage as part of their culture. As long as the Bidayuh youths themselves take keen and serious interests in the traditional dances, these dances will continue to flourish.
Similarly, Dayak Bidayuh National Association should continue to work together with the Ministry of Social Development, Sarawak Museum, Majlis Adat Istiadat, the Sarawak Tourism Board , Dayak Cultural Foundation and other relevant agencies to further organize more workshops and dance classes. Dayak Bidayuh National Association could also recommend to local institutions of higher learning such as the Faculty of Creative Art, University Malaysia Sarawak, to offer the Bidayuh traditional dance as one of the courses in the Art Management Program.
Footnotes
Bidayuh bauh is coined by the writers to
describe the successful Bidayuhs who have migrated from their respective
villages and settled down in cities like Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Miri, Bintulu
and the like. (Back?)
The Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) through its numerous
tourism promotional programs overseas has featured the Bidayuh traditional
dances. It is hoped that through these activities, the Bidayuh traditional
dance will help promote the local tourism industry. Web site: http://www.sarawaktourism.com/
(Back?)
| [Back] |
|
# Encik Robert Sulis Ridu is currently a Research Assistant with Majlis Adat Istiadat. The information and recording of the traditional dances were obtained from his research and recording from different informants in Bau, Kuching, Lundu and Serian District. Encik Lawrence Sinos Sabo was formerly a Cultural Officer of Dayak Bidayuh National Association and now is a Political Secretary to the Chief Minister, while Encik Ahi Sarok is a Lecturer in Public Administration at the Faculty of Social Science, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
Received on November 16, 1999.
Published on the Internet by courtesy of Mr.
Ahi Sarok (January 05, 2000)
Re-Published for bidayuh
dotcom by courtesy of Mr.
Ahi Sarok (May 03, 2000)
Citation:
Ridu, R. S., L. S. Sabu and A. Sarok. 1998. Bidayuh Traditional
Dance. Paper presented at the Bidayuh Traditional Music, Songs,
Dance and Costume Workshop held at Museum Tun Razak, Kuching on 16
- 17 May 1998. 16p. (http://www.geocities.com/dayung_biatah/biddance.html)
© Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee, provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page.
bidayuh dotcom have written permission from the original author on publishing this article for bidayuh dotcom. Credit to be given to Kelly Renim Munyang aka Dayung Biatah for electronic pages published on her web site