Dance Traditions of the Maluku Islands

The Maluku Islands

The Maluku Islands, like other regions of Indonesia, have preserved their unique dance traditions. We will describe the three dances that are the calling card of these islands: cakalele, saureka-reka (also known as gaba-gaba), and katreji. 

Cakalele is the most famous of the Maluku dances. It originated as a dance of warriors celebrating a successful raid. The men who take part in the dance clutch short swords and narrow wooden shields called salawaku. They personify the warriors of two rival squads, and they perform in support of their leaders, who play-act the main battle. 

During big celebrations the dancers usually don complete warrior costumes. Cakalele is also performed during village celebrations, but in village settings the performers usually wear regular clothes and use a long rod with loose flowing fibers at the tip instead of a sword. 

I was traveling across the northeastern part of the island of Halmahera, and in the village of Jara Jara my guide asked some local residents to perform cakalele especially for me. Normally, these villagers would only perform cakalele during important events. In the morning almost the entire village gathered around a small square. The men took turns entering the circle and performing their versions of the war dance. It was a real celebration! Tourists rarely visit Jara Jara; only a couple of Europeans had stopped there several years before me.

One of the most popular dances in Maluku Province is saureka-reka, which is also called gaba-gaba, sago tree blade, after its main attribute. Saureka-reka is usually performed by young people. Four young men holding palm blades join them and draw them apart to the beat of the music, while also using them to keep the rhythm. And four young women jump over the blades, trying not to get “trapped.” Saureka-reka is an ancient dance, and in the past it was a kind of a competition between young men and women, a dance of courtship. Nowadays it is widely known and is often performed during various events. I observed saureka-reka, as well as katreji, in the city of Ambon.

The roots of katreji go back to the 16th-17th centuries, when the Portuguese and the Dutch arrived on the Maluku Islands, known to the Europeans as the Spice Islands, aiming to set up spice trade. They introduced the local population to European ballroom and folk dances, the influence of which is noticable in the musical accompaniment and the dance moves of katreji. This vigorous dance is performed by several pairs of young men and women, and the dance partners literally exude joy and merriment. Katreji, which is regarded as a traditional dance and is particularly popular among young people, is typically included as entertainment in the programming of official events, during which it is performed as a kind of a peculiar greeting dance for important guests. It is also performed during traditional holidays, at weddings, and other celebrations.