My friend, Gert, invited me to her show. She's one of the dancers in Randai show called Sijundai. Performance was prepared and performed by students of ASWARA - National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I really loved it!
Randai is a folk theater tradition of the Minangkabau ethnic group which incorporates music, singing, dance, drama and the silat martial art. It is performed as a theatre-in-the-round to achieve an equality and unity between audience members and the performers. Randai performances are a synthesis of alternating martial arts dances, songs, and acted scenes. Stories are delivered by both the acting and the singing and are mostly based upon Minangkabau legends and folktales. Randai originated early in the 20th century out of fusion of local martial arts, story-telling and other performance traditions. Men originally played both the male and female characters in the story, but since the 1960s women have also participated.
The Minangkabau ethnic group (also known as Minang or Padang) is indigenous to the highlands of West Sumatra, in Indonesia. Their culture is matrilineal, with property and land passing down from mother to daughter, while religious and political affairs are the province of men (although some women also play important roles in these areas). Today 4 million Minangs live in West Sumatra, while about 3 million more are scattered throughout many Indonesian and Malay peninsula cities and towns.
Source: wikipedia :)
Gert
