posted on 2017-06-02, 07:12authored byKartomi, Margaret J., Amir, Iwan Dzulvan
AV12.1: Audiovisual Example 1 in Chapter 12 of book: Margaret Kartomi, ‘Musical Journeys in Sumatra’, Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012. For female participants at the Festival of Dance and Oboes. Part of a phô dance performance by the Sanggar Cempala Kuneng female dance troupe from Calang, Kabupaten Aceh Jaya in March 2003. The dance troupe was led by Ibu Rohani of Calang, a former dance student of Ibu Cut Asiah in Meulaboh, with Syéh Ibu Nurbaiti as ‘syéh’ or lead singer. The backdrop was a north Aceh-style bridal throne. The segment shows introductory bowing (’seumbah’), after which the dancers move in single row, double row and central-point-in-a-circle formations, the latter with the leader ‘sitting’ (kneeling) in the middle of the circumambulating group. Two aneuk syahé (solo vocalists) sing texts from a tragic legend about Madion and Malelang, a male and female teenage pair, who are victims of slander and sentenced to death. The dancers sing group responses to the solo singing.
These recordings of traditional Acehnese music and dance were made during Margaret Kartomi’s Australia Research Council-funded field trip to the Festival Tari dan Seuruné Kalée (Festival of Dance and Oboes) in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, Indonesia, 28 February- 2 March 2003. Margaret Kartomi was invited to record at the Festival by the Bupati (district head) of North Aceh, Bp Tarmizi Karim and Bp Noerdin Daood, lecturer in Acehnese dance in the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ), who was a member of the jury. She was accompanied by her husband, Mas Kartomi, and Monash PhD ethnomusicology alumnus, Iwan Dzulvan Amir. Camera by Iwan Dzulvan Amir. Recorded by permission of the Bupati of North Aceh, Bp Tarmizi Karim, and his appointed artist and 2003 festival organiser - Bp Rizal, on behalf of the troupes who performed in the Festival.
Copyright 2003. Margaret J. Kartomi. Camera by Iwan Dzulvan Amir