Baksa Kembang is one of the classical
Banjar dances
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...
originating from
South Kalimantan
South Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Selatan) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is the smallest province in Kalimantan, the Indonesian territory of Borneo. The provincial capital was Banjarmasin until 15 February 2022 when it wa ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, which functions as a welcoming dance () for guests. This dance is usually played by female dancers with the condition that the number of dancers must be odd.
Baksa Kembang was originally a dance that was only performed in the royal environment to welcome guests of honor or royal relatives. But along with developments, this dance became popular in the community when the
Sultanate of Banjar
Sultanate of Banjar or Sultanate of Banjarmasin ( Banjar: كسلطانن بنجر, Kasultanan Banjar) was a sultanate located in what is today the South Kalimantan Province of Indonesia. For most of its history, its capital was at Banjarmasi ...
began to open access for the public to watch this dance performance, so the Baksa kembang became popular in the community and became one of the regional cultures in South Kalimantan.
Performance
Baksa Kembang dancers are equipped with a
scarf
A scarf, plural ''scarves'', is a piece of fabric worn around the neck or head for warmth, sun protection, cleanliness, fashion, religious reasons, or used to show the support for a sports club or team. They can be made in a variety of diff ...
() that is used to dance so that when dancing they look elegant and charming. One of the characteristics of the Baksa Kembang dance costume is the crown on its head called the ''gajah gemuling'', which is a crown decorated with two small bogam flowers and woven young coconut leaves which are often called ''halilipan''.
The movements in this dance depict like beautiful teenage girls playing in a flower garden. They picked some flowers which were then arranged into Bougainvillea () flowers and they carried them while dancing gracefully and beautifully. In the show, the dancers carry a pair of bogam flowers in their hands, namely a series of
roses
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...
,
jasmine
Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiva ...
,
Magnolia × alba
''Magnolia'' × ''alba'', also known as the white champaca, white sandalwood, or white jade orchid tree, is a flowering plant of hybrid origin that is commonly cultivated in Southeast Asia and tropical regions of East Asia. Although the exact or ...
() and
Cananga odorata
''Cananga odorata'', known as ylang-ylang ( ) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Queensland, Australia. It is also native to parts of Thailand and Viet ...
(). This bogan flower will be presented to guests who come after the dance is finished.
Today
Baksa Kembang dance can now be found at various welcoming events, traditional events and cultural festivals in South Kalimantan. Along with the development, many creations are added in each of these dance performances, for example in the creation of clothing or additional movements. This is done as a preservation of this art and so that the performances that are presented look attractive.
See also
*
Srimpi
The Srimpi ( jv, ꦱꦿꦶꦩ꧀ꦥꦶ, translit=Srimpi) (also written as Serimpi) is a ritualised dance of Java, Indonesia, associated with the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta. The ''srimpi'' dance is one of the classical dances of C ...
*
Gambyong
Gambyong ( jv, ꦒꦩ꧀ꦧꦾꦺꦴꦁ) is a traditional Javanese dance originating from Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. It has existed since ancient times, and began to be displayed at the Mangkunegaran Palace in the era of 1916 to 1944. ...
*
Gending Sriwijaya
is the name of the traditional performance whether it is a song, music, as well as dance that originated from Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia. Both of the song and the dance was created to describes the splendor, cultural refinement, glory ...
*
Dance in Indonesia
Dance in Indonesia ( id, Tarian Indonesia) reflects the country's diversity of ethnicities and cultures. There are more than 1,300 ethnic groups in Indonesia. Austronesian roots and Melanesian tribal forms are visible, and influences ranging ...
References
{{Dance of Indonesia
Dances of Indonesia