Maengket Dance, Traditional Dances From North Sulawesi



Maengket Dance is a traditional dance that comes from Manado, North Sulawesi Province. The word maengket itself comes from the local language that is a crank, which can mean lifting the heel of the foot up and down. With the addition of the ma prefix on the word crank, it can mean dancing up and down.

This Maengket dance is one of the traditions of the Minahasa community that is still preserved to this day. The Minahasa people themselves are indigenous people of North Sulawesi. The Minahasan people are from Austronesians who have lived in North Sulawesi for thousands of years before Christ.

Minahasa tribe is a unity of several sub ethnics that have inhabited the North Sulawesi region such as Tombulu, Tonsea, Tontemboan, Tolour (Tondano), Tonsawang, Ponosakan, Bantik, and Pasan. Although the Minahasan community is composed of various tribes and religions, but the Minahasan people live side by side and get along. It also affects the cultural features of the Minahasa community, including maengket dance. Due to the wide variety of tribes in the Minahasa tribe, the term used in technical maengket dance also varies according to the language of each of these tribes.

Maengket dance has been known since the Minahasa people know the farm. Once upon a time Maengket dance performed at harvest time as a thanksgiving to God with a simple movement. Maengket dance consists of 3 rounds namely Maowey Kamberu, Marambak, Lalayaan. Moawey Kamberu is a dance performed as an expression of gratitude when the rice harvest is abundant. Meanwhile, Marambak is a dance that displays the spirit of mutual help of Minahasa people in building a new home for a new family, while lalayaan is a dance that symbolizes the young Minahasa students who seek a mate or also known as the Minahasa youth social dance in the age past.

The Minahasan community in the past played the maengket dance in the rice picking ceremony. Maengket dance itself is divided into two parts, namely Sumempung intended to invite the spirit of the Gods and praises the Empy (God) and Mangalei is intended to ask for blessings from the gods. Maengket dance is actually not purely dance, but also the unity of the two branches of art that is dance and singing. The rice picking ceremony is a traditional ceremony performed during the traditional party season which lasts for 28 consecutive days.

Moawey kamberu Maengket dance performed 7 days at the time before the full moon in the stone yard (Tumotowa), on the night of full moon performed lalayaan dance and 7 days on after full moon is done then dance maengket marambak in lamp installation ceremony for new house (sumolo).

Maengket Maowey kamberu dance will be led by women called Walian in uma and assisted by Walian im pengumam'an or an adult man. Walian is the original religion or religion held by the Minahasa, the leader is an old woman who is often called Walian Mangorai who served as advisor and also supervisor in the implementation of fertility ceremonies.

This goo dance begins with a wave of handkerchief by a dance leader intended to invite the earth goddess (lumimu'ut) to the trance master of the goddess of the earth. After the dance leader was possessed by the goddess of the earth, then this dance really started.

In order for other dancers not possessed by evil spirits, there is a Tonaas Wangko assistant accompanying wali in uma, this maid is called the tonaas in uma who is an adult male holding a spear as a symbol of the sun god (Toar). Therefore, around the stone yard (tumotowak) ditancapkan spears.

Maengket moawey kamberu or owey kamberu dance is an illustration of the complaints of fatigue in planting rice which then produces pleasure when reaping rice. The wisdom that can be learned is that any feeling of fatigue that is felt after working hard will produce a pleasure in the future.

In its development, dance maengket now has become an attraction for tourism, especially North Sulawesi province. Therefore, maengket dance is still preserved as a cultural asset by continuously undergoing modification without overriding the philosophical values of the dance.

Maengket dance is now in addition to still used by the community in traditional ceremonies, but also become one of the alternatives in traditional entertainment that is still maintained and developed by the Minahasa community.