Dance in Malaysia: Major Force in the Changing Scene

Abstract

The past and present of Malaysia are both represented in the living traditions of its dance culture. Motions and sounds are celebrated by the masses in the traditional forms of folk dance; ritual healings by traditional healers through ritual dance and music; classical dance at royal places; ethnic dance; and archaic and primordial dances of the Orang Asli (the aborigines of peninsula Malaysia). Mohd Anis Md Nor, Associate Professor in Dance and Music at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, looks at the contemporary dance scene in his country