#plate dance

[wikipediapictures]

Tari Piring Bergelut Kaca

“‘Plate Dance’ (Tari Piring) performance from Sumatra (Indonesia) that may include dancing on broken plates and ‘face washing’ with plate shards.” - via Wikimedia Commons

[thejakmag-blog]

FEATURE: Tari Piring

Locally known as Tari Piriang, the attractive plate dance Tari Piring originates from the city of Solok, about 60 km east of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra.

The dance showcases an exceptional feature of placing porcelain or ceramic plates on both open palms of dancers as they perform fast and vibrant choreoraphies that involve swaying of plates in every direction and even turning them upside down with their palms turned down. Amazingly, watever energetic moves the dancers make, the plates continue to stick as if glued to their palms.

As a dramatic climax, at the end of the dance the dancers smash the plates onto the floor, deliberately breaking them into sharp pieces. The dancers will then continue dancing on the pointed shards, remaining completely uninjured. This actions of artists leaping onto piles of pointed shards is considered the magic of Tari Piring.

Written by Linda.