Role: Pagurau
4
This page explains the role of the pagurau
image_header
2021-09-03T19:45:04+00:00
Pagurau literally means "people of the gurau." They are the audience members, the people that attend a performance. Some people attend a performance because they are part of the host family or from the local community. Others are more devoted, following the favorite performers across the highlands. The term "pacandu" is used to describe the more devoted pagurau. Attendance, then, can be a casual or more intentional act.
The term itself has no gender associations, so is inclusive of all who attend. During the years that I have attended saluang performances, however, the vast majority of pagurau--and almost all the more serious attendees--identify as male. When women attend, they are usually present earlier in the evening. Often, they are part of the host family or neighbors. Typically at the end of an evening, virtually no women are obviously visible, though Pak Ketua told me as we left the performance at Suayan, there were a few still there in audience, pacandu who do travel to performances. For the most part, however, when I am discussing pagurau in this site, it is the male pagurau, unless otherwise denoted.Interaction
The genre is highly interactive. The pagurau are not passive participants simply witness to the music delivered by the performers, but active participants in the ways each performance unfolds, shaping the repertoire delivered in an evening. The singers, in turn, interact with the male pagurau, gently teasing them through the lyrics, provoking commentary and, ideally, much laughter. These performances are labeled "malam bagurau" (an evening of joking). In some contexts, a janang (emcee) is engaged to enhance the joviality, delivering the requests of the audience members and making commentary himself.
Reasons for Attending
A pagurau's reasons for attending can vary from one person to the next, and one performance to the next. Each of these factors affects the songs they might request, their behavior and subsequent interactions at performances. These factors include:
- True love of the music and lyrics, particularly the classics,
- Camaraderie with fellow attendees,
- Participatory, interactive atmosphere,
- Preferences for particular singers, including physical attraction,
- Personal relationship with performers,
- Relative proximity to the performance location.
The Saluang Scene
Saluang is like a scene with an in-crowd. There are groups of pagurau who are devoted to the genre, knowledgeable about the singers, and upcoming performances. Some of them attend saluang performances virtually every night during the season. They are friends with other pagurau, sharing knowledge about who is singing at upcoming performances and where those performances would be. For example, Santan will be singing in Aia Tabek on Saturday. Some men travel to performances on their own, while others meet up and travel in a group, as Pak Ketua and I did once with a series of other pagurau riding motorbikes.
Many of the frequent pagurau have stage names or nicknames, sometimes multiple names, names that have evolved over time. Pak Ketua, for example, was known as "Roda Gila" (Crazy Wheels) back in the day because he drove all over on his motorbike, often being a little risqué in driving style. At some performances, he was referred to as "Pak Ketua" (Mr. Leader, due to his former role in association for saluang) in song lyrics. At others, he was called "Mak Datuak" (Mr Datuak, where "Mak" is a Minang term of deference for an older man, and "Datuak" is the term for an adat leader, which he was). There are groups of men so regularized as a group that they attend as a group that has its own name, like Lumuik Simpang at Performance: Ngalau, July 31, 2015. Groupies
The most dedicated pagurau, the pacandu, are like groupies. They follow their favorite performers around to different performances. They have the cell phone numbers of their favorite singers, so they can find out when and where they are performing. I have seen padendang answering their phone and texting in the middle of a performance, relaying information about the location. Camaraderie
The pagurau who regularly attend performances are known to each other. They get to learn the names of other pagurau when a janang is present and requests are announced, but they also know each other through attendance, spending hours hanging out together listening to saluang. The performances are about this element of sociality, that is part of the meaning of "malam bagurau." Connoisseurship & Participation
Some of the pagurau have a very deep knowledge of the genre, the titles and structure of the classics, especially the ratok. It is pagurau, after all, who drive the requests for particular repertoire at any given performance. When an obscure song, like at Performance: Suayan, July 29, 2016 is requested, it is almost certainly performed because a pagurau requested it (and padendang should be prepared to sing any request). Some pagurau are proficient performers themselves, and occasionally you will see someone from the audience go up on stage and take a turn at a few songs.
