The plate dance is one of the most well-known and worldwide types of West Sumatra culture. West Sumatra or Padang is famous not only for its spicy food but also for its rich culture, both in terms of traditional musical instruments or dances. One of the dances is the plate dance which makes many people amazed to see the plates being waved in various styles.
The uniqueness and beauty of this traditional Minangkabau dance is the use of plates that are displayed in various attractions of plates on the palms of the hands. The dancers make fast movements in a structured and neat manner and keep the plate on their hands without falling. Attractions adopt the systematic Minangkabau silat movement. Initially, the plate dance originated from Solok Minangkabau village but later developed into the famous dance from Minangkabau, West Sumatra.
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The history of the plate dance
Tracing its history, piriang fingers or plates were originally a reaction from the local community in gaining abundant harvests. They perform this plate dance as a form of gratitude towards the gods they believe to be God. Initially in the plates they carry filled with food and then the dancers perform regular movements quickly and skillfully. As a result, dance appeared to be a unique yet extraordinary act and hypnotized many audiences.
However, over time, Islam entered West Sumatra and then they no longer worshiped the gods but believed in the existence of one God who deserves to be truly worshiped. Thus, the plate dance at this time was no longer used as a dance of worship or thanksgiving for the god who had given the harvest, but the plate dance became a culture and was performed at crowd events.
Plate Dance Now
After being the nation’s culture for a long time, now in its development the plate dance remains as one proof of the past culture that once decorated the people of Mnangkabau. Now, the plate dance serves as a cultural heritage that needs to be etched and taught to posterity from generation to generation as a unique and beautiful cultural heritage.
The plate dance movements are performed by swinging the plates located on both hands quickly and dynamically and noisy with the sound of two rings that the dancer uses when colliding with the plates he is carrying. Usually, at the end of the dance, the dancers will throw the plate they carry on the floor until it breaks and then they continue the dance on the plate.
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Not only dance, usually along with the dance there are musical instruments that are played such as Saluang and Talempong. Collaboration between dance movements and musical sounds with lively movements is usually something that grabs a lot of attention and is considered charming. It’s not just the plate, but the clothes used should also be a concern. Dancers wear bright and light colored clothes such as a combination of red and yellow.
The plate dance is still an icon of West Sumatra or the Minangkabau people and is one of the many cultures that enjoy doing activities throughout Indonesia and even the world. The Minang community not only makes this a past culture but also continues to be practiced until now as a form of society that loves the cultural heritage of their ancestors.
Then, in the plate dance. The plates used are also open plates carelessly, but certain plates. In this case, they use porcelain plates imported directly from China. Why this plate, the reason is simple, that is, it has a beautiful value and aesthetic value.
Movement in Plate Dance
In the plate dance there are certain movements and even a number of movements that are used and these are not just movements but contain meanings such as aesthetic values and others. Among the movements that contain acrobatic and aesthetic meanings are the manijak baro movement. Apart from this movement, in the plate dance there are several other movements, especially when the dancers are playing and dancing on broken plates.
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Here are some of these moves:
- The movement of the offering
- The hoeing motion
- Singanjuo motion is negligent
- The motion of taking out the trash
- Weed motion
- Farming movement
- Fence motion
- Motion of sowing
- Mutual cooperation
- Motion of uprooting seeds
- Motion to unwind
- The motion of delivering juadah
- The motion of taking rice
- The brings rice Movement
- The motion of grabbing the rice
- The motion of rice filing
- The motion of aerating the rice
- The movement of the rice
- Movement of shampooing rice
- The motion of stepping on the shards
- The motion of pounding rice
The plate dance has been Go internation, where some of these dance moments are shown to warm the atmosphere, let’s say in the context of a tour of the archipelago cultural festival. Not only in the archipelago, but this distinctive dance has been performed internationally, such as in the archipelago cultural festivals in Malaysia, Singapore, Serbia, and several European countries.