A plan by the Melaka state government to revive the traditional Ronggeng dance has stirred controversy, with opposition lawmakers questioning its relevance and cost amid rising economic pressures.
On July 3, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh announced that the state government welcomed efforts to revive Ronggeng, but said the initiative would be carefully managed to ensure it complied with Islamic principles.
However, the state assembly opposition leader, Dr Mohd Yadzil Yaakub from Perikatan Nasional, regarded it as a waste of public funds.
But what is Ronggeng?
It is a dance form believed to have originated in Java, Indonesia. It is a commercialised dance in which a troupe consisting of musicians and professional dance hostesses toured and performed in various towns and villages on makeshift stages or village town halls.
In the 1950s and 1960s, there were Ronggeng stages in New World Park, Penang, and in BB Park, Kuala Lumpur. There was also the Rambong Siam in Waterfall Gardens, Penang.
The attraction of the Rambong was the beautiful Thai dance hostesses. They operated like the Javanese Ronggeng performances in that patrons bought tickets to dance with them.
Ronggeng was not a definitive dance form or style, but was equated with the Joget dance. Ronggeng is a communal dance, featuring the Joget rhythm, and is also referred to as Joget Moden or Joget Lambak.
It is mainly a couple dance with basic Joget steps, but it allows for improvisation. Quite different from the choreographed Joget theatrical performance, performed on stage by up to eight couples, executing unison movements and definitive floor patterns.
The Ronggeng stage showcased a variety of dance styles and forms, such as traditional Joget and Inang, Western Cha-cha and Mambo, with musical accompaniment provided by a versatile band.
Patrons from all ages and walks of life, especially the lower middle- and lower-income groups, patronised the Ronggeng stage to dance or to watch.
The Ronggeng stage was equivalent to the Western cabaret dance halls in Penang, such as the Green Parrot in Tanjung Tokong and the Wembley in the heart of George Town.
In these Western dance halls, patrons from the middle- and upper-income groups were usually married couples, young lovers, and married men on a binge. Spirits, emotional and liquid, flowed freely.
Western dances such as Waltz, Foxtrot, Swing, and Latin numbers like Mambo and Cha-cha were mainly featured. Here, contact between dancers was permissible, as is the norm in Western and Latin dances.
But on the Ronggeng stage, touching was not allowed, and patrons had to keep their distance from the dance hostesses.
There was no physical contact in Malay dances such as Joget, Inang, and Masri. Likewise, there was no touching in Latin numbers on the Ronggeng stage.
The Ronggeng stage and the cabaret dance halls are long gone, replaced by nightclubs and discotheques where patrons move and gyrate in whatever manner they wish.
There is no technique in their movements, as in Waltz, Mambo, Cha-cha, Joget or Inang dances. It is no longer dancing but raw, savage movement to let off steam, and, for some, to de-stress.
It displays primaeval instincts and wild gyrations, stripped of their ancient ritualistic and functional meanings.
While the Ronggeng stage and cabaret were quite decorous and respectful, the modern nightclubs are crude, savage and unruly by comparison.
But these have become relics of the past, memories to be cherished by the older generations, memories of youthful abandonment, frolicking, and feuds over dance hostesses.
Then, Ronggeng was a social and cultural institution of dance, music, patrons, beautiful dance hostesses, and young men eager to show their manly prowess and old men attempting to relive their once youthful days.
Now, Ronggeng has been reduced to just a dance form, the Joget and Inang, performed in the tradition of Joget Lambak, which was in vogue then, especially in Melaka and Penang.
Recent attempts to revitalise Ronggeng have been confined to one-off performances at shopping malls and other public venues.
Perhaps the Melaka government is trying to re-engage the old romantic ambience of Ronggeng and Joget Lambak as a social, recreational, informal event.
But times have changed, strident and myopic ethical and moral perceptions are no longer amenable to such cultural events. Furthermore, competing forms of entertainment challenge its viability.
Nevertheless, activists and cultural impresarios fervently believe in the beauty and relevance of the old Ronggeng tradition, albeit in a new social configuration.
The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.
Main image: Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara
