BIDAYUH TRADITIONAL DANCE
By
Robert Sulis Ridu, Lawrence Sinos Sabo and Ahi Sarok#
 
 
Roles of Bidayuh Traditional Dances
 
The Bidayuh traditional dances were performed for a number of reasons; rituals, entertainment, test of skills, as a form of respect to visitors and the like. Virtually, the significant roles played by these dances in the context of Bidayuh culture are enormous.

The performances of these dances require strong physical and mental abilities. By participating in the dance activities, the participants will gain physical and mental strength needed for a healthy body and mind and to keep themselves busy. In this way, it will prevent them from engaging in other unhealthy activities such as drugs taking, glue sniffing, loafing and other social ills. Youths could also learn to interact with each other and acquire more interpersonal communication skills in order to build their self-esteem and become more positive in their outlook.

The Ministry of Tourism, Sarawak Tourism Board, Ministry of Social Development, Sarawak Museum and Majlis Adat Istiadat, have played their part in promoting our traditional dances through their activities within and outside our country.  This is one of the ways in which our traditional dances are used to promote Malaysia in general and Sarawak, in particular, towards the development of both the national and local tourism industry.
 
[Back]
[Table of Contents]


* This paper was presented at the Bidayuh Traditional Music, Song, Dance and Costume Workshop held at Dewan Tun Abdul  Razak, Kuching  on 15-16  May 1998.

# 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.

Note: 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

[Back-up]
1