Sepen Dance, Traditional Dance Symbol of Belitung
The Sepen Dance
The sepen dance is a traditional Belitung dance which describes socializing in the Belitung community.
The sepen dance contains elements of pencak silat as the basis of its steps, its movements are very dominant with the agility of the feet and hands.
The basic movements of the sepen dance are leg movements such as crossing, jumping and standing on tiptoes.
Each movement in sepen dance holds its own meaning in it, dominated by clapping movements that are coordinated with the accompanying music.
The dancers’ formations often move around, but they still look neat, resulting in beautiful movements.
To make it more interesting to watch, the dancers will carry out a variety of movements. Even though they vary their movements, dancers will not lose their original movements.
Entertainment for the people
The sepen dance functions as a symbol of social interaction and entertainment for the people of Belitung. This dance is often performed at thanksgiving events, such as the traditional maras taun tradition, weddings, etc.
At weddings, the sepen dance is performed to welcome the prospective groom who comes to the bride’s residence. The dance will be performed before or after the rhyme Berebut Lawang at the first door.
The sepen dance represents a social symbol of the Belitung people, because sepen dance performances are usually played by several female and male dancers in pairs.
However, there are also those that feature only male dancers or only female dancers.
Even so, the movements displayed remain the same, namely movements that are carried out agilely and dynamically in accordance with the accompanying music.
The sepen dance is accompanied by music and songs that are very closely related to traditional Malay music. The accompanying musical instruments for the sepen dance usually consist of drums, tambourines, violins, accordions and others.
Identical to typical Malay clothing
The accompanying song itself is a typical Belitung Malay song.
Choreographically, the sepen dance movement form is very simple, both in terms of dance movement elements, floor patterns, as well as make-up and clothing.
The costumes worn by dancers in sepen dance performances are identical to typical Malay clothing. Female dancers wear clothing such as long-sleeved shirts, trousers and cloth that covers the waist.
Apart from that, some people wear headscarves on their heads, while others don’t. This dancer’s costume is usually dominated by bright colors that depict joy.
Reporting from kemdikbud.go.id, this sepen dance was brought by someone named Sudin, then performed for the first time in 1958 at the Begawai Nube event in Lembong Urisan Village.
Sudin was born in 1922, he came to Kelapa Kampit District, precisely in Buding Village, at the age of 17, he later died at the age of 85 and was buried in Buding Village.
This dance was then continued by his assistant named Domra. In 1982, the sepen dance was performed again at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.
Until now, the sepen dance has developed very rapidly in Belitung, the rapid development of the sepen dance has made this dance one of the traditional dances which is quite popular in the Belitung community.
Usually the sepen dance will be performed at cultural festivals or at events welcoming large guests and groups of tourists visiting Belitung.
In its development, the sepen dance is not only intended as an entertainment dance, more than that, the sepen dance is useful for introducing cultural arts in Bangka Belitung.
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