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Song in the Sumatran Highlands

People: Uncu Ai

Stage Name: Uncu Ai. "Uncu" means "aunty." When I first started working on saluang, she was identified as Si Ai. "Si" indicates a younger woman, so as the padendang age, their names change.
Other Names: Asnita
Role: Padendang.
Sex: Female.
Time Frame: Contemporary Figure.
Source: personal encounters in 2004 and 2016.
Born:
Died: n/a.
Place of Origin:
Place of Residence: Balai Panjang.
Year started performing:
Training:
Relationships to other performers:
Performances:

Performance: Pariangan, February 10, 2004.

Interviews: July 13, 2016.
Songs composed:
Recordings:
Other notes:

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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:

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