Aquina Dicha
Deborah Wagler
English 8 Language
31 August 2012
Dances From The Land of Rainbows
Bangka Belitung is a province that is located near Sumatera and is surrounded
with smaller islands. Bangka Belitung is two islands formed as one province. That is
why some things people in Bangka do, does not mean that people in Belitung do it
too. In Bangka Belitung, there are many dances. It is not only Tari Zapin and Tari
Campak. The culture in Bangka Belitung is very thick with Malay style. Traditional
houses, tourist sites, and traditional dances are usually the reasons why people like to
visit Bangka Belitung. Bangka Belitung has beautiful dances like Tari Campak, tourist
sites like Matras beach, and traditional houses called Rumah Panggung.
Tari Campak is the traditional dance of Bangka Belitung that describes how
much fun the bachelors and bachelorettes have in the Pacific Island. This dance is
usually after the rice harvest or after Ume (the garden). This dance is also used for
entertainment in a variety of activities such as welcoming guests or a wedding party.
This dance has evolved during the Portuguese occupation in Bangka Belitung. This
can be seen by a variety of the dance on the accordion and other and the clothes on
the women, are very thick with European style. This dance is usually accompanied by
a drumbeat combined with a friction of a violin and gongs that are played regularly. In
the dance, the dancers generally use the tools in the form of a handkerchief and are
played following the graceful movements of dancers. At the end of this performance,
if a man lost a shoot-back rhymes with women then the money will allow a man to a
woman dancer who became his partner. Female dancers in this dance are called nduk
campak, while male dancers are called penandak. (Indobeta)
Matras Beach is one of the prime beach destinations in Bangka Belitung.
Matras Beach is very beautiful. This beach is located in the village of Sinar Baru,
Sungail Liat District, adjacent to the northeast Bangka Island and is about 40 km from
Pangkal Pinang or 7 km from the city of Sungai Liat. This beach is 3 kilometers long
and 20-30 meters wide. A background of palm trees and beautiful blue sea trigs this
beach. Visitors will find stunning scenery like the sand that blends beautifully with the
surrounding rocks like a pearl that unfolds in front of the eye. This beach has beautiful
scenery and the natural flow of river can make anybody that comes, relaxed. Among
the beautiful beaches in Bangka Belitung, this beach is most visited by tourists, both
local and outside of region and foreign tourist. The specialty of this beach is fine
white sand, the waving coconut and the natural river flow. (Baligraph Graphic
House). The geography of this province, can defiantly affect the culture. It affects
them by the different types and how they are special in their own special ways.
Bangka Belitung has beautiful traditional houses. In this area, there are three
known types of architecture, Melayu Awal, Melayu Panjang, and Melayu Bubung
Limas. All of these architecture styles are formed from wood, bamboo, rattan, tree
roots, leaves, or growing grass. The Melayu Awal architecture style has the highest
point of this building is the roof. The roof is a high sloping roof that has a verandah in
front, as well as many openings in front that serve as ventilation. The people of
Bangka Belitung know the 9-pole philosophy. This building was erected above 9
poles with the main one mast in the middle and the first was established as leaves
cover the thatched roofs. The roof of these buildings is usually made from the
stem/bark of bamboos. The Melayu Panjang houses usually have additional buildings
on the side of the existing building. Now, Melayu Bubung Limas looks like the
houses in Palembang. The reason why is because these houses are influenced by
Palembang architecture. (Perpustakaan Digital Budaya Indonesia)
The dances in Bangka Belitung are usually about expressing something. Either
it is your feelings, or you just want to make a statement. Like how Tari Campak is
usually used to describe the fun the bachelors and bachelorettes have in the Pacific
Islands. The reason why tourists should keep Matras beach clean, is so that other
people can enjoy its beauty. We should keep it clean and beautiful so people who
haven’t been to Matras beach can get a chance to see its beautiful scenery. Bangka or
Belitung people used to occupy these houses in the past, but they are now for tourist
attractions. While the traditional house’s purpose, is to teach the next generation of
Bangka Belitung about the history and the culture of both Bangka and Belitung. The
reason people want to do that is so people can understand where they come from and
why they should do the things they do. This generation should care about the tourist’s
spots, traditional dances, and so people can understand the beauty of Bangka
Belitung.
Work Cited
Baligraph Graphic House. Matras Beach Tourism. Indonesia Tourism. N.d. Web. 31
Aug. 2012 <http://www.indonesia-tourism.com/bangkabelitung/matras_beach.html>.
IndoBeta. Tari Campak. IndoBeta. 3 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Aug. 2012
<http://indobeta.com/tari-campak/4289/>
Perpustakaan Digital Budaya Indonesia. Rumah Adat Bangka Belitung TMII. Sejuta
Data Budaya, N.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2012 <http://budaya-indonesia.org/Rumahadat-Bangka-Belitung-TMII/>.