Sumazau Dance
3. What is Sumazau dance?
Sumazau dance is a popular ethnic dance from Sabah. This traditional dance has always been correlated to the tribe of Kadazandusun, a tribe that populates and settles in Sabah. The locals from the district of Penampang are substantially well-versed in this type of dance. Being the most famous dance in Sabah, it has also become the “symbol” of Sabah. Hence, it can be meditated as the state dance of Sabah.
Additionally, Sumazau dance is oftem performed as a thanksgiving to the God and the spirits for the ample and generous harvest during the Harvest Festival, or commonly known as Pesta Ka’amatan in the state of Sabah which is celebrated every May of the year. It is also performed as a thanksgiving for activities related with the rejection of the army, the spirit of worship and to cure diseases. Apart from that, although its main purpose is to welcome the rice spirit, “Bambaazon”, it can be usually seen to be performed in social gatherings, wedding celebrations, entertainment occasions, welcome dignitaries and other important functions other than festive occasions. Therefore, most of the people would agree with the fact that a Sabah cultural show is considered imperfect without the performance of this well-known dance. As a description for this popular dance, it is performed by peasants comprises of both men and women. It has the distinguished characteristics of a slow rhythmic movements of the heels’ of the dancers while their arm gestures float gracefully at about the shoulder level with a slight bending of their elbow and wrist which are similar to that of a bird soaring up to the sky. Alternatively, their arms are swung softly like a pendulum and parallel to the sides of their body. Besides that, this dance is further accompanied with a gong ensemble. These gongs which are made up of six pieces of different sizes are played to delivers the music.
In addition, the costumes of Sumazau dance are genuinely Kadazan and are
Sumazau dance is a popular ethnic dance from Sabah. This traditional dance has always been correlated to the tribe of Kadazandusun, a tribe that populates and settles in Sabah. The locals from the district of Penampang are substantially well-versed in this type of dance. Being the most famous dance in Sabah, it has also become the “symbol” of Sabah. Hence, it can be meditated as the state dance of Sabah.
Additionally, Sumazau dance is oftem performed as a thanksgiving to the God and the spirits for the ample and generous harvest during the Harvest Festival, or commonly known as Pesta Ka’amatan in the state of Sabah which is celebrated every May of the year. It is also performed as a thanksgiving for activities related with the rejection of the army, the spirit of worship and to cure diseases. Apart from that, although its main purpose is to welcome the rice spirit, “Bambaazon”, it can be usually seen to be performed in social gatherings, wedding celebrations, entertainment occasions, welcome dignitaries and other important functions other than festive occasions. Therefore, most of the people would agree with the fact that a Sabah cultural show is considered imperfect without the performance of this well-known dance. As a description for this popular dance, it is performed by peasants comprises of both men and women. It has the distinguished characteristics of a slow rhythmic movements of the heels’ of the dancers while their arm gestures float gracefully at about the shoulder level with a slight bending of their elbow and wrist which are similar to that of a bird soaring up to the sky. Alternatively, their arms are swung softly like a pendulum and parallel to the sides of their body. Besides that, this dance is further accompanied with a gong ensemble. These gongs which are made up of six pieces of different sizes are played to delivers the music.
In addition, the costumes of Sumazau dance are genuinely Kadazan and are