Saman Dance is an Indonesian dance that adopted dancing styles from Arab and Persia. It is well-known as “Dance of a Thousand Hands”.
Saman Dance was named after Sheikh Saman Aceh, a cleric in XIV century AD, from the central highlands. In the past, Saman dances were performed during important Indonesian traditional events, such as Kelahiran Nabi Muhammad SAW (birth of Muhammad SAW). Over the years, it has evolved to serve not only as a performance but also a form of entertainment enjoyed by the old and young.
The uniqueness lies in the cohesion of the movement, where dancers move in unison to the music. During the course of the project, Ibu Yenti and Ibu Lucy taught the students how to coordinate various hand clapping, body and head movements. To facilitate their learning, a video was played and the students were required to follow the dance movements.
Students were required to kneel and coordinate their hand movements according to the increasing tempo.
This part of the dance is tough due to alternate hand movements!
Alot of coordination is required :)
Initially, some found it difficult to coordinate as the tempo increases. However, with numerous hard work and practices, they begun to familiarise themselves with the various hand movements and coordination and thoroughly enjoyed the dance.
After practicing, students would view their recorded performance and learn from their mistake.
Practice makes perfect :)