Traditional Malay Dance in Johor ( South )

Our team has been as assigned to do research about Malaysian Traditional Malay dance. For my task I have to find out about the traditional dance in South region. I choose Johor Darul Takzim as represent the variety of dance and the famous traditional dance in Johor is "Tarian Zapin".

      Zapin is a Malay Traditional Dance that is very popular in Johor. The word zapin means the movement of legs from the word "Al-Zafri". Zapin is a Malay Traditional Dance that originally adapted from traditional culture of Arab. it is most influenced by Zapin Arab, but it has some characteristics that make zapin melayu dance differ with Arab. Based on the old history, zapin dance was started as entertainment dance in a castle that brought by Hadramut, Yaman Selatan in a century of 13. Basically, Malaysian dancers take zapin as basic steps Nowdays, zapin dace was performed in a formal or informal events such as wedding ceremony, grand opening event and so on.


      The dance was originally performed by males only however it is also performed by female dancers these days. The simple version of the zapin is perform to the rhythm & 1234 and the foot is extended out to the side on the last count. It can be done in the spot, traveling forward backwards or diagonally in the basic form. The carriage if the dancers is quite erect and dignified.


      The music of Zapin comes from an ensemble of traditional instruments which include the lute (gambus), bongos (marwas) and the violin. There are no hard and fast rules as to the number of dancers that perform. However because of the very interactive nature of this dance, it is usually performed in pairs.


      The dancers can then play with each other, teasing, challenging and enjoying each others company. It is most popular in Johor. There are numerous forms of Zapin dances and it varies from state to state. Basically, there are various types of zapin dance in Malaysia. It was different in name and type because the creator of it is originally from different district in Johor. One of the most popular forms and certainly more evolved and intricate is the Zapin Tenglu from the Mersing, Onother popular zapin dance is Zapin Pekajang, Zapin Pekan, and Zapin Lenga,  


      In addition, the attires also is the most important in every performance of zZapin. The attires will reflect the personality of dancer either it looks beautiful or dull. Zapin dancer includes man and woman and have different attire for Zapin.

Man : 

Wear songkok

Baju melayu and Kain samping

Wear capal

Woman : 

Baju kurung

Flower on head (sanggul) or headscarf

Traditional necklace

Kain samping