Post 3: The Joget Jive

I am sending this email from an internet business. Cost 3 Malaysian Ringits (about 75 cents) for an hour of computer time.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006International Music Conference in Kuala Lumpur-July 2006Selamat ! We're having very interesting musical experiences , as well as eating too well in Indian, Chinese, and Malay! The conference arranged a Malysian Night of food, music & dance that was held in a Performing Arts Palace (very grand) which was attended by the Minister of Arts & Culture.
The show was titled "Malaysian Evolution". They played everything from the traditional gamelon (drums & gongs) to western orchestral music and combinations of both. The Malaysian Philharmonic played, popular singers entertained along with colorfully costumed dancers, and by the end we were all dancing the traditional "joget" dance in the aisles! (even the minister!)

Di- clapping and dancing “joget”-representative from an African country beside me.

Next day was the highlight of this conference, I'm sure. We were bused about an hour out of the city to a primary school. The children and faculty were waiting for our delegation of about 80 to arrive. When the buses pulled up they waved and blew kisses! Four beautifully dressed eleven and twelve year old girls held huge bouquets of sparkling tinsel stems while a large group of costumed boys played traditional "kompong" drums ( hand drums). They led us in a procession to an open multipurpose area ( thankfully covered because we had a monsoon deluge while the students performed.)

        Girls greet us with tinsel decorations.

           The boys lead us into the school playing kompong drums.

                                 

These girls taught me how to dance a traditional Malaysian dance.

                    

  My lovely "joget" dance teacher.

                 

Silat, martial art dancer

 There were speeches by the principal and various faculty with dance and martial arts demonstrations by the students .They were such talented performers! The little drummers were very accomplished, the girls so graceful (hand motions and moves), the martial arts demo was fantastic, and the young gamelon players accompanied all so well. After their performances we were all invited to join the children to learn their particular art. I went with the dancers and learned a traditional Malaysian dance, the "joget",  while Fin tried his hand at kompong drumming.

After our lessons- we all had to perform for the faculty and kids at the school! There was so much joy in this shared music making. The school children and teachers couldn't have been friendlier. Just a delight to meet.



Learning the joget  (Denise Gagne learning beside me)

Performing with my young teacher !

Before we left we were served a meal of typical Malaysian foods . Interesting fruits,such as durian,  noodles dishes, and gelatin desserts made of green peas and coconut were tasted.We all agreed that this visit to a Malay school was truly a highlight of the conference.