COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Nadya Novarizka Mawuntu

1706067
INTRODUCTION
Throughout history, people have danced for many reasons-or for no
reason at all. Dance can be a serious way to worship, a passionate way to
show love, or just a fun way to express emotion and connect with other people.
Dance is also a social behavior; it reflects the patterns of relationships between
individuals in groups. In some cultures, men and women dance separately
because touching one another is taboo. In other cultures, couples embrace
each other tightly. What is and is not accepted in a dance reflects a
community’s morals and standards. The uniqueness of dances can symbolize
the cultural group and make it their own characteristic. That is why every
country even every ethnical group has their own colors of dances.
Basically, Korea and Indonesia has similar genres of dance. If we set our
perspective of Korean and Indonesian dances as a kaleidoscope, we should
put it under the light and gently turn it. When we stop, the jumble of colors and
shapes transform into a meaningful image. The pool of bright colors will
transform into lots of dance shapes and genres. We can see the dance
transform into old court dance. Another turn of the kaleidoscope reveals dance
as the folk dance. Turn the kaleidoscope a notch and as the shapes become
fixed we can also discover dance as the ritual dance and even a new kind of
modern dance form.
But, despite the similar basic genres, Korean and Indonesian dances
have many differences. Korean dance mostly affected by China and Buddhism.
While in Indonesia, many influences ranging from neighboring Asian countries
even western styles through colonization. There are more than 700 ethnic
groups in Indonesia and each ethnic groups has their own dances; makes total
dances in Indonesia are more than 3000 Indonesian original dances.
Then, Korean and Indonesian dances have huge differences in the back
sound music and the traditional costumes which use in the dance
performances. In addition, there are also a lot of traditional accessories that
usually use in the dance performances. To learn more detail about the compare
and contrast of Korean and Indonesian dances, this report will discuss about
Korean and Indonesian ritual dance; Salpuri and Sanghyang Dedari traditional
dance.
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SALPURI
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 History: Salpuri is a compound word consist of Sal and Puri. Sal can be
generally understood as “evil spirit,” or “harmful ghost”. Puri is pure
Korean word which means “untie/unknot” or “solve”. Salpuri dance was
tightly attached on shamanism, the indigenous belief system of Korea,
Therefore, in order to banish the “sal” from her own psyche, she
performs the Salpuri dance.
 Performers: Salp’uri is always performed as a solo, usually by the most
senior dancer in the group.
 Costumes: The dancer wears a white Hanbok dress, Beo-seon socks,
and carries a long white handkerchief.
 Music: Kayagum, a long twelve-stringed zither; piri, a bamboo oboe;
ajaeng, a long bowed zither; and janggo, an hourglass drum.
 Steps: Salp’uri contains three stages. The dancer starts with slow
movements. The dancer looks up to Heaven, expresses his or her
wishes by "spreading a long handkerchief." At last, the performance
ends quietly. The performer returns to the same spot on the stage where
the dance began. But, on the contrary, the dancer is in a very different
place now, with his or her mind refreshed. Thus, the end of this circle is a
new beginning, a representation of the annual cycle of seasons.
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SANGHYANG DEDARI

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 History: Sanghyang Dedari dance was also tightly attached on shamanism. It

was developed from the essential religious function to maintain good health and
well being of the villagers.
 Performers: Sanghyang can be perform by one or two dancers. The dancer
should be teenage or young dancers because of their purity; a virgin girl is
considered holy.
 Costumes: The bebancihan (cross dressing) and colorful costumes, gold waist
belt, Gelungan pepudakan (Flower Crown) combined with the dramatic makeup,
dancer's appearance looks like an almost supernatural character.
 Music: Male and female choir.
 Steps: The ceremony begins in temple areas. The dancers are set on the
ground between the female and male choirs for the angels. With closed eyes the
dancers listen to the choir and suddenly unconscious. It means, they have been
trances by the angel spirits. When the choirs stop chanting, the entranced girls
jump to the ground.
Then, a holy priest; known locally as 'pemangku', will ask the goddesses to
peacefully leave the bodies of the dancers. If they refuse, the dance will
continue until they agree. In the end of the dance, the priest blesses them with
holy water to bring them out of trance. The last step is awaking the dancers who
have no memory of the whole rituals. Amazingly, even though the dancer eyes
are closed during the entire performance, they can make perfectly synchronized
movements.
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