DATUN JULUD DANCE
- Sep 10, 2015
- 2 min read
DATUN JULUD DANCE
- The Dance That Perform To Greet The Returning Of The Warriors
The Datun Julud or hornbill dance is an Orang Ulu traditional women’s dance that is popular among the Kenyah tribe of Sarawak. It was once performed during communal celebrations such as the one to greet returning warriors of a headhunting raid, or during the annual celebration that marks the end of a rice harvest season. The Datun Julud was said to have been created by a Kenyah prince called Nyik Selung, to symbolise happiness and gratitude.
Today, the Datun Julud has become a dance of formal entertainment that is often performed in the rumah panjang (longhouse) to greet visitors and tourists. A solo dancer, a barefooted woman, usually begins the dance, moving spontaneously with a fluid motion to emulate a hornbill in flight. Gracefully, gently, the dancer moves her arms, legs and torso, careful to keep her head erect and motionless so as to keep her earrings – heavy brass ornaments that dangle from elongated earlobes – from swaying too much.
The dancer is usually dressed in a colourful sarong and an elaborate headdress, which is adorned with protruding tufts symbolising the deities. To represent the wings of the hornbill, she holds beautiful fans made out of the feathers of the sacred bird.
After she is done, another woman takes her place, and this goes on until all the women in the longhouse have each taken their turn. On various occasions, the dance is performed by a group of up to four women.
The Datun Julud is often accompanied by the beautiful sounds of the sape, a traditional lute peculiar to the Orang Ulu community or “upriver people” of central Borneo. Two sapes, one three-stringed, the other four-stringed; are customarily played together for the dance. Often times the dancers are urged on by singing and the clapping of hands.
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