Manasai Dance, Traditional Dance From Central Kalimantan



Manasai Dance is a welcome dance of guests who come to Central Kalimantan Province. This dance is commonly referred to as a welcome dance. This Manasai Dance symbolizes the joy of the community in welcoming the guests or the tourists who come.

In this Manasai Dance performance is usually performed by male and female dancers, with intermittent lines in a circle. This dance is an interactive dance by inviting the audience to join the dance. Anyone can join the dance, from the young to the old can join in the dance circle. With the joining of the audience, the circle will get bigger. So that the audience who participated in dancing in this dance will drift in the dance festivities.

The movement in Manasai Dance is actually very simple and also fun. The first begins with the dancers facing into the circle, then turning to the right while doing a forward motion counterclockwise. After that, the dancers face out the circle and then rotate again to the left while doing a forward movement counter-clockwise. And so on, the dancers danced gracefully while following the rhythm of the song accompaniment, the song manasai, traditional songs from Central Kalimantan.

In Manasai Dance performances are usually equipped with traditional clothes and also ahead cover inserted tingang feathers. In addition, dancers are also equipped with a bahalai or shawl as an attribute in the dance. In Manasai Dance performances usually, use jars as an additional medium surrounded by a line of dancers. The jars are usually decorated with bamboo or other decorations with a scarf.