Kuda kepang / Noraziah Mohd Amin

One of the traditional dances in Malaysia that has been declared not in line with the teachings of this country’s official religion, Islam is kuda kepang dance. Kudang kepang means “braided horse”. This dance originated from Johor, and it is believed that it was brought there from the Javanese people. A kuda kepang group can consist of 25 people where five people are the musicians, 15 are the dalangs and 9 are the dancers. It is said that the kuda kepang dancers cannot see anything in the color red as this will attract their attention and influence them to become wild. Usually, the dancers are males as this dance was once associated with warding off evil spirits. Anyone who wants to learn this dance will need to practice “patigeni” which is fasting the whole day and “tirakat” which refers to fasting during the day and then the fasting continues again after 12 am. He or she will also need to be a recluse for a few days. A braided horse is made of leather usually from buffalo, or bamboo straws plaited or woven in a shape of a horse. Besides, a braided horse normally has a few shades of striking colors like red, yellow and brown. Before the braided horse is used for dancing, a “dalang” (a person who controls kuda kepang dancers) will burn incense and the horse is exposed to the incense smoke while reciting some mantra for calling the spirit in the surrounding area to enter the horse. The spirit is said to be responsible for mesmerizing the audience with extraordinary dance moves and antics.