For Indonesian, Lenggang Nyai dance is quite popular especially those who live in Jakarta since that's where Lenggang Nyai dance come from. Lenggang Nyai dance is just one of the beautiful Betawi's traditional dance which performed by girls only.
FYI, Betawi is original tribe in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. The development and modernization of Jakarta makes Betawi tribe presence become weak. Some of teenagers and millennials are even don't know that Betawi tribe is original Jakarta's tribe. So here I am try to remind you Jakarta millennials and people around the world that the capital city of Indonesia has great traditional culture especially dance art.
Last week, I went to Jakarta dance performance festival, there were 5 dance performances, all of them are Betawi traditional dance. One of them is Lenggang Nyai dance. Actually, I often seeing Lenggang Nyai dance when I was study in Ritsumeikan APU, Japan because Indonesian students performed Lenggang Nyai dance for some exchange events with local people and of course Indonesian week. So I'm familiar with the movement and music. Even my Norwegian friend can dance Lenggang Nyai dance. She's really awesome and cheerful person, I'm glad she wanted to join Indonesian week 2015 as Lenggang Nyai dancer.
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| Me and My Norwegian girl in Indonesian week 2015 "Malam Kenangan" event. She dance Lenggang Nyai really well. Thank you Carolina to join Indonesian week 2015 |
Created by Yogyakarta's Lady
Lenggang Nyai dance might come from Jakarta, but the creator of this dance is actually Yogyakarta's lady. In 1998, Wiwik Widiastuti created Lenggang Nyai dance because she inspired by the story of Nyai Dasimah.
Just short story about Nyai Dasimah, she's beautiful lady who live in Holland colonial era, She's confused when she had to decide who's gonna be her husband, Dutchman or Indonesian. She ended up married with Dutchman but she made wrong choice because her life and rights as woman had taken. She got violated by her husband so she decide to fight against Holland and of course her husband. She empower Batavia (Jakarta in Holland colonial) society to fight against Holland.
The "Nyai" in Lenggang Nyai dance is actually taken from Nyai Dasimah name. The word "Lenggang" means swing the body to left and right with agile movement.
Swing Your Body
As I mention before, "Lenggang" means swing your body to left and right. It shows Betawi's lady character who always be cheerful and flexible. That's why this dance only performed by girls only.
The agility of Lenggang Nyai dance can be seen from the dynamic of body's movement, foot step, and hands.
Show Nyai Dasimah Confusion
In every Lenggang Nyai dance performance, even the versions are different, but all of them have movement that show Nyai Dasimah confusion when she had to choose her husband.
It's hard to explain by words, but when you watch Lenggang Nyai dance performance, there's movement when the dancers throw their hands to the left and right, and shake their heads. That one shows the confusion of Nyai Dasimah when she had to choose between Dutchman or Indonesian.
Combination of Chinese and Betawi Culture
For original Chinese people who understand Chinese culture, they might notice there's mix culture in Lenggang Nyai dance between Chinese and Betawi culture. The dancer's costume with green and light red and the crown are shows how Chinese culture and Betawi culture combine well. The costume also shows that the harmonization and toleration between Chinese and Betawi people.
Lenggang Nyai dance performance might looks sexy and beautiful but the dance is show more than that. The respect of Nyai Dasimah legacy and harmonization of Chinese and Betawi culture are the main element of this dance. People can modified this dance to their version, but the story and philosophy of Lenggang Nyai dance remain in every single movement.
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