Saman Dance

Hi there!

So for this post I want to talk a little bit about traditional culture in Indonesia. In here, I will be focusing to the traditional dance. Because there’s so many ethnic group in Indonesia, there are various types of dance. There are legong dance from Bali, Saman from Aceh, Yopong dance from Jakarta, and many more.

This time I will be talking about the saman dance.

What is saman dance?

Saman also called dance of a thousand hands since its mainly uses upper body such as hands and head, not the entire body. This dance is from Gayo ethnic group, from Aceh. Usually they performed the dance for some important event. The dance itself is fast and has a harmony between all the dancers. It is really energetic and fun, also its not really hard to learn either. The dancer usually formed by a group of male, but these days many female join too. The dance is accompanied by kendang and song. The seat position can be change too in some parts, creating a symbol or different line and then get back again to the first position. The dance last for 15 to 20 minutes.

Because saman is really popular even now in our modern era, many schools have this dance as one of the extracurricular in Indonesia. Many foreigner is interested in this dance. The reason is because it is so energetic and fun to watch. Also its really unique and different than other dances.