| Description |
The Tortoise traditional dance was inspired by the community’s observation of tortoises that live in rivers, lakes or pools. It started from an event whereby a fisherman unexpectedly hooked a tortoise. The community made the event as a joke, there then sparked a tortoise dance movement. This dance was in its splendour era during the 1950s to the 1960s. This dance was spotted at the earliest originated and rooted at Sarang Tiong Village, Endau, Kuala Rompin, Pahang, inspired and developed by expert individuals in the martial arts of silat, and created as entertainment. A dancer’s body movement and facial expression are according to a tortoise’s behaviour. The dance movement and dancers’ facial mimics are adapted so as to add to the humourous entertainment element that can attract the audience with comedy actions as well as entertaining. There are three versions of this dance according to its location. At Sarang Tiong Village it was inspired from an event whereby a wife who had a penchant to eat tortoise but her husband could not catch one. Then the wife dreamt an old man gave her the tip to catch a tortoise and that was to use banana bait as this is the tortoise’s favourite food. After the incident tortoise became a hot topic at the village. To celebrate the success there then sparked an idea to realise a dance form from a tortoise’s movement that can attract the public with a humorous and tickling performance. The Tortoise Dance at Pulau Rumput Village, Pekan, Pahang was brought in by Mr Iderus bin Ginuh from Alai Village in Rompin to Pekan in 1964. At Jambu Village, Pekan this dance is based on the experience of a fisherman named Pak Ngah Hitam in Endau, Kuala Rompin who was amazed at a tortoise’s behaviour when trying to eat his bait. He then imitated the tortoise’s actions and stylised a dance resembling that of a tortoise movement with no link to the silat matial arts movement. |
