Malaysian dance troupe brings culture stateside

Kimberley McGee

Friday, June 29, 2001 | 9:19 a.m.

The country of Malaysia is a blend of cultures: Muslim, Portugese, Chinese and Siamese, among others.

In that spirit of combining different races, cultures and religions, a seasoned dance troupe from the Southeast Asian country has come to Las Vegas to share its cultural wealth.

The Kedah Cultural Dance Troupe of Malaysia presents "Malaysia Truly Asia" Saturday at the Desert Willow Community Center in Sun City MacDonald Ranch.

This is the first U.S. performance by the Malaysian troupe. Its one-hour show is part of Malaysia's 2001 Trade Mission to the United States.

"We want to share with you our culture," Mohammed Bisharuddin, cultural officer for the dance troupe, said. "These dances are from our Malaysian community for your community."

The troupe includes 30 dancers, 12 musicians and a full-time choreographer. It will travel by bus for the next month to five cities in the Southwest, as well as Seattle and San Francisco.

Some of the dance moves include balancing acts involving kitchenware, as well as instruments such as the tempurung, a coconut kernel and scraper that are used together to create a drumbeat.

The more than 15 dances that the troupe performs are taken from regions around Malaysia, a country which is about the size of California.

"We chose dances that represent all of our country," said Normasila Musa, deputy director for the Kedah Cultural Dance Troupe.

Each dance highlights the strength of the culture, she said.

For instance, the Rantak-Piring dance combines two Malaysian subcultures. The Rantak was adapted from self-defense moves practiced in the Mimangkabau community originally from Sumatra Indonesia. The Piring (saucer dance) highlights the dancers' agility as they balance cups and saucers while performing a series of quick dance moves.

Indians are one of the three main races found in Malaysia. To honor them, the troupe includes a traditional dance that details, in fluid movements, the style in which girls carried water from the river to the village using jugs called buyungs.

Muslim missionaries from the Middle East are also represented. Muslims introduced the Hati Kama dance to Malaysia in the 14th century. The troupe blends traditional instruments with modern ones for an improvisational-style of dance.

"These dances show all of our community," Bisharuddin said.

The troupe is touring to promote travel to Malaysia, but also to open a window into its world to Southern Nevadans, said Sally Harvey, activities director for Desert Willow Community Center.

"They are showing us their culture, getting people interested in knowing more about that part of the world," Harvey said.

The Sun City retirement community has hosted other exotic, multicultural dance troupes at its center in an attempt to offer its residents a bit of the world at home, she said.

"This will give our community a better understanding of how other parts of the world live," Harvey said. "It will be interesting to see what they have to show us, too."