Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (Aceh) have so many uniqueness in their custom that show how colorful Indonesia ethnicity. The uniqueness of Aceh society is presented in their traditional culture performances. One of the Aceh tribe's traditional culture performance that shows the harmony among Aceh community is Ratoh Duek dance.
Before I explain what is Ratoh Duek dance, let me show you geographic location of Aceh province.
- Aceh Province
Aceh is located in the north side of Sumatra Island, Indonesia. The capital city of Aceh province is Banda Aceh. The population in Aceh province is around 4,500,000 people (according to 2015 data). Aceh is very famous with their traditional culture performance such as saman dance, ratoh duek dance, and tari pukat dance. Moreover, Aceh community's custom is very unique because they live according to Islamic law, not only for society's way of life, but also for economic and politic.
If you remember the terrible tsunami in Indonesia in December 2004, it happens in Aceh. After 2004 tsunami, Aceh become one of the most sustainable province in Indonesia.
Alright, now let's move to the interesting part of Aceh community that presented in their culture performance which is ratoh duek dance.
As I mention before, ratoh duek dance is the dance that described the harmonization among Aceh community. Ratoh duek dance is performed by 11 female members, one or two singer who called as "syekh", and two or three traditional instrument called "rapa'i".
Maybe some of you never hear "ratoh duek dance" before. Okay, let me show you this picture.
- Ratoh Jaroe APU Indonesian Week 2014, Photos by: Takeshi Mizuta
If you see this picture maybe some of you know something. Yap, many people including Indonesian consider this is 'saman dance'. But it's wrong! Actually, this dance is called ratoh duek dance.
How about saman dance itself? Well, the original of saman dance is like this!
- Saman Dance
Saman dance is performed by Gayo tribe, one of the ethnic group in Aceh. Saman dance is performed for celebrating important moments in Gayo tribe's custom. Moreover, Saman dance is performed by male only. In 2011, UNESCO declare Saman dance as Intangible Elements of World Cultural Heritage in order to for saving intangible elements of world cultural heritage UNESCO.
However, people in Java, particularly, Jakarta and Bandung, often consider Ratoh Duek dance as 'Saman dance'. In overseas also Ratoh Duek dance is often considered as 'Saman dance". This is one of the misunderstood of Indonesia culture.
Let me described the difference between Ratoh Duek dance and Saman dance:
| Ratoh Duek dance | Saman Dance |
| · Performed by FEMALE only | · Performed by MALE only |
| · The number of dance members should be even numbers (11 members) | · The number of dance members should be odd numbers (10 members) |
| · The dance is accompanied by traditional instrument called rapa’i | · There is no traditional instrument in saman dance. |
| · The costume is colorful plain clothes (could be yellow, red, or blue) | · The costume is Gayo tribe’s traditional clothes |
Ratoh Duek Dance
- APU Indonesian Week 2014
- APU Indonesian Week 2014, Photos by: Annisa Indiwara
- APU Indonesian Week 2015, Photos by: Izza Hafiz Hilmi
Saman Dance
Nowadays, there are so many modifications and innovations in Ratoh Duek dance. The dancers are not only female, but male can also dance Ratoh Duek dance (like myself, I perform Ratoh Duek dance for 6 times). Also, Ratoh Duek dance is very famous with the compactness of its choreography among dance members and music tempo as the image of the harmonization among Aceh communities.
Here I show you Saman dance and Ratoh Duek dance videos to give you more idea about the difference between these two dance:
Ratoh Duek Dance
In conclusion, the dance that many Indonesian society know or even people around the world known as "saman dance" has original name which is Ratoh Duek Dance. In contrast, orignially, Saman dance is the dance which performed only by male members after UNESCO confirmed as Intangible Elements of World Cultural Heritage in order to for saving intangible elements of world cultural heritage. The harmonization movement from Ratoh Duek dance, that amaze the audiences, is the image of how Aceh community live in harmony life among each other.
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