Peacock Dance, Traditional Dance From Pasundan Land

Peacock dance is a traditional dance of the new creations of Pasundan land created by someone named Raden Tjetjep Somantri in 1950 and recreated by Irawati Durban in 1965. As the name implies, this Peacock Dance is much inspired by the elegance of motion and the color of the tail of the peacock. Many people mistakenly think this peacock dance tells the story of the life and joy of the female peacock, whereas this dance tells of the charm of the famous male peacock.



The male peacock will show off the beauty of its colorful and colorful tail feathers to attract the female's heart. The male peacock gestures look like a graceful dance to show her charm, this aims to keep the female fascinated and willing to continue mating with her.



It is this natural gesture that inspires this traditional dance of Pasundan land. Characteristic in this dance is that dancers usually wear a scarf that will be tied at the waist, which when unfurled will resemble the tail of a peacock that blooms and rich in color.



In the show, the characteristic of this dance lies in the clothes worn by the dancer, which has a peacock feather-like motif. The fabric and the clothes depict the shape and also the color of the peacock feathers. Coupled with scarves filled with sequins as a picture of a peaked peacock's tail, as well as a crown-shaped head of a peacock often called a siger, this siger will sway every dancer to move his head.



This dance is generally danced rampak and usually consists of three or more dancers who each have a role as a male and female peacock. This dance will usually be accompanied by gamelan instruments. Although this dance recounts the male peacock movement, the male peacock elegance can only be described through the movements of female dancers.



In each event, the peacock dance is most often shown primarily in welcoming the great guests, welcoming the bridegroom in the wedding procession, or introducing Indonesian culture, especially in the Pasundan culture to the international level.



Of the many dances created by Raden Tjetje Somantri, perhaps only this peacock dance is a famous dance in Indonesia as well as abroad. Until the number of variants appears in peacock dance creations, such as Peacock Dance in East Java and also Manuk Rawa Dance from Denpasar.