Malaysian Traditional Dance

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Dance can mean to move the body with rhythmic steps and motion. Dance can also mean a certain set of steps and motions, usually made in time to music. And a dance can also mean a party at which the people dance. Dancing is the act of moving the body in rhythm, usually in time to music. It seems natural for people to express themselves through rhythmic movement. Young children jump up and down when they are excited and sway gently when content or at rest. Dancing is both an art form and a form of recreation. Dance as art may tell a story, set a mood, or express an emotion. Some dances consist of symbolic gestures that tell a story completely through movement. As recreation, dancing has long been a people's source of fun, relaxation, and companionship. In earlier times, square dances gave families a welcome chance to socialize. Today dancing at a party or other gathering remains a popular way for people to enjoy themselves and to make new friends. The first time a person sees a Traditional Dancer, he or she usually asks, "How can this man, with super glue, colored tape and bright outfits, be called traditional?" Today, traditional means not strictly adhering to the past, but instead it refers to a style that developed from the original dance many years ago. Around the late 1800's, only a few dignified warriors were entitled to wear the articles of the traditional dancer, the roach and the bustle. As the dance progressed from tribe to tribe and went northward, tradition changed and more dancers began to put on a bustle and roach. The Lakota tribe is usually credited for the birth of this dance as a true style everyone participates in. The Lakota style, or Northern Traditional, still exists and is popular at dances in the South as well. (It is overwhelmingly popular in the North.) The Traditional Dancer in the South today does not look very much like the

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