A short history of Zapin - The word Zapin originated from Arabic word “Zafn” which means fast feet movements in harmony with the fast rhythm of the music. The word Zapin usually used in North Sumatera and Riau, meanwhile in different region it could mean a different word. Zapin dance is one of traditional Malay folk dance that still exists until now. According to history, Zapin is an entertainment dance for the royals in the palace brought from Hadramaut, Yaman by the Arabic merchants in the early 16th century.

As an entertainment offering dance, Zapin dance is divided into three parts: Part 1 is the beginning, part 2 is the core of the dance, and part 3 is the closing. Zapin dance posture has a distinct characteristics, the body have to move like running waves. Usually, Zapin dance have religious elements like words of advice and praises to religious greatness.

On 20-24 November 2017, CIOFF Indonesia was back in collaboration with Galeri Indonesia Kaya in their Creative Space Workshop, this time bringing Zapin Dance to the floor. The workshop was attended by up to 20 people combined from the two sessions, with the first session on 4:00 to 6:00 PM, and the second one was on 7:00 to 9:00 PM everyday. After 5 days of workshop session, the participants got the chance to perform on 25 November 2017 as the opening of one of Galeri Indonesia Kaya event.

Through time, the participants decreased up until 7 people to perform because, unfortunately some of the participants weren’t able to attend the performance day. But anyhow, they still managed to learn the dance during the workshop days.

During the workshop, the participants were first socialized with the history and background of the dance giving them an understanding regarding the dance. After that, the basic movements and body posture of the dance were introduced to give them the bigger picture on how they should do the dance. With the basics in mind, they proceed to learn the dance during the workshop.

Although the workshop seems to be short, the participants managed to memorize all the dance movements and all the details in just 5 days. With only 2 hours per day practices, they managed to do not only the dance but also the blocking configurations for the performance. The participants seemed very eager to learn and up for the challenge.

On the performance day, the participants came in the morning to do all the necessary preparations. They first do blockings on the stage, and then have one last rehearsal on the stage before doing their make-up and costume.

The performance started at 3:00 PM for the opening of one of Galeri Indonesia Kaya’s event. The performance went smoothly. The participants’ hard work were not in vain, they performed wonderfully and received great appreciation from the audience.