This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

Song in the Sumatran Highlands

People: Bujang Rao-Rao

Stage Name: Bujang Rao-Rao; his stage name asserts a place affiliation with nagari Rao-Rao.
Other Names:
Role: Tukang Saluang.
Sex: Male.
Time Frame: Contemporary figure
Source: in person encounter at a performances in 2004 and 2015
Born: unknown
Place of Origin: Rao-Rao
Place of Residence:
Year started performing:
Training:
Relationships to other performers:
Performances: Performance:

Pariangan, February 10, 2004.
Performance: Suayan, August 1, 2015.

Songs composed:
Recordings:
Other notes:

This page has tags:

Contents of this tag:

This page is referenced by:

Performance: Suayan, August 1, 2015 24 Malam Bagurau image_header 2021-06-25T18:00:39+00:00 -0.17798, 100.48907 08/01/2015
Date: August 1-2, 2015
Time:
Place: Suayan
Style: Saluang Klasik
Occasion: Malam Bagurau for a Wedding

Set up: The stage for this performance involve a structure erected at one end of a dry and empty rice field. The material used to hold up the back and the roof covering was bamboo, the roof covering a blue nylon tarpaulin, and the back a multicolor striped nylon cloth of the kind used to cover and wrap materials for transportation of goods on the back of a pickup. The floor of the stage was covered with a plastic mat with no other padding provided. No chairs were provided for the audience so a few crowded on to the stage with the performers.

Performers:
- Padendang:
  - Te E
  - Nor Cingkariang
- Tukang Saluang:
  - Bujang Rao-Rao
- Janang:
  - None, as is appropriate for a malam bagurau attached to a wedding.
Audience:
Ethnographers: Jennifer & Pak Ketua
Attendance:
Notes:
Performance: Pariangan, February 10, 2004 20 Malam Dana image_header 2021-09-03T20:43:20+00:00 -0.45571, 100.49278 02/10/2004
Date: February 10, 2004
Time: The invitation states a start time of 8.30p.m., slightly earlier than typical start time of 9p.m. It didn't actually get underway until 9.50p.m.
Place: Pariangan
Style: Saluang Klasik
Occasion: Malam Dana
Set up: The performance was staged in the front of someone's front yard, with a temporary stage covered by a large plastic canopy stretched over bamboo poles. On stage, mattresses were covered with embroidered pieces of cloth, and the sides of the stage similarly draped. Plastic chairs for the audience were set out in rows facing the stage. People were still setting up and adjusting the sound system as the performance started. The quality was particularly bad: I noticed that a padendang expressed displeasure at the microphone.

Performers:
- Padendang:
  - Contracted
    Si Ai
    Gadih Santan
    Eri Tamala
    Upik Pasilian
    Upik Gantiang
  - Special guest
    Syamsimar
- Tukang Saluang: Bujang Rao-Rao
- Janang: Antoni Dt. Mangiang
  - note that the invitation says "tukang oyak," which is an alternative term for the role.
Audience: This performance had more women and children present than any other I had previously attended since the start of fieldwork. When I asked Martis about their presence, he said it was partially about the context but also because they are interested in the genre, an interest which changes from region to region and is quite strong in Pariangan (possibly as it is home to famous singers, like Syamsimar).

The seats were provided for the “real” pagurau and invited guests, people who received the invitations; they were deliberately kept empty until their arrival. Women, children and some other men stood around the edges. Some women later found stones to perch on. This crowd of local onlookers started to thin out towards midnight. There were probably 200 people there at the peak. Some of the pagurau—regulars that the padendang recognize by visage--traveled from relatively nearby locations, like Batusangkar, Batipuah, Padang Panjang. Some came from as far away as Payokumbuah, which back then was probably at least a two-hour drive.

Ethnographers: Jennifer & Martis
Attendance:
Notes:

This page has tags:

Contents of this tag:

This page is referenced by:

This page references: