Why Is The Use Of Color Important In Saman Dance Costumes? There Are Traditional Values

YOGYAKARTA - The Saman Dance is one of the famous Indonesian dances that is not only domestically, but also popular to foreign countries. This dance is a traditional dance from the Gayo highlands, in Aceh. Saman dance is admired because of its attractive movement.

In Saman's dance performance, there are many dancers and carry out movements in a compact and rhythmic manner. The dancers sat in line and moved together dynamically to follow the song lyrics. The movement was carried out quickly and each other in a position that remained compact, thus becoming an amazing performance.

This dance is not only interesting because of its movements, but also has uniqueness in terms of the attributes of the dancer's clothes. In addition, the use of color on the Sama dancer costume contains an important meaning in the tradition of society from this dance.

Saman's dance costume brings its own uniqueness which makes this dance even more special. So what are Sama's dance costumes like and the values contained in them?

Saman's dancer costume consists of three main parts. At the top of the head, there is a braid teleng or tengkuluk decoration in the form of a square with the base of a black cloth. These two squares are embroidered using threads that are similar to the fabrication technique.

For the body parts, the dancers wore Gayo's Kerawang shirt complete with pants and sarong. The clothes are traditional Gayo clothing. Gayo's Kerawang shirt is black base with white, red, and green threads. While on the hands, accessories are worn in the form of bracelets and hand sanitizers.

Saman dance costumes have a distinctive color, both worn by male dancers and female dancers. The color of the Saman dancer costume means philosophical according to tradition.

The colors contained in the costume contain values that show the identity, courage, policy, strength, and harmony of the wearers. The meaning of color illustrates the principle of life held by the local community.

The Saman dance has been recognized as the original Indonesian cultural heritage by UNESCO on November 24, 2011. This dance is able to attract many people because its movements are said to be different from other dances. In addition, this dance also has something to do with the history of the spread of Islam in the archipelago.

Quoting from the book Knowing National Arts 11: Saman Dance by N. Fardhilah (2020: 11), Saman's dance was created by Sheikh Saman, an Islamic preacher in Aceh. Therefore, this dance is called "Saman" according to the name of the creator.

The Saman dance is usually performed by a group of dancers, which number in dozens or dozens. The number of dancers must be in odd numbers. However, as it develops, this dance is also performed by women or in a mixture between men and women.

Another uniqueness of Saman's dance can be seen from the sitting position of the dancers who lined up long to the side with their knees bent. When Acehnese lyrics are sung, the dancers shake their bodies to the left and right following the rhythm of the song. Each movement in this dance depicts a certain story or message.

The Saman dance does not depend on music or additional equipment for its performance. In lieu of musical instruments, this dance relies on various variations in body movements and applause.

The Saman dance combines applause with various other movements such as shaking, kirep, lingan, sorang saring, and loose motion. The combination of this movement creates a stunning visual pattern.

The language and lyrics in the Saman dance are a mixture of Arabic and Acehnese. The fluids sung in this dance often contain certain missions or messages such as da'wah, satire, advice rhymes, and others.

The Saman dance has five different types of songs. Starting with regnum as the opening, then the ringing sung by all the singers. Next is redet, a short song performed in the middle, followed by a syek song that has a shrill voice, and ends with saur which is a song that is repeated by all Saman dancers.

Such is the review of why the use of color is important in Saman dancers' costumes. The costume color of the Saman dancer symbolizes the identity and principle of life that is wise, brave, strong, and the harmony of the dancers. Also read the Saman Dance: history and facts.

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