JAVANESE MUSIC, DANCE AND SCENE

During the period of contracting labourers, music, dance and scene were very important for the Javanese immigrants, and nowadays it is important in the Surinamese culture. Gamelan is the most common traditional Javanese music here. The styles of dances originate from Java and have its own development here. The jaran kepang is a wellknown dance in Suriname, whilst nowadays the tayup is practiced occasionally only. In pentyak silak, martial arts originating from Java, which is also practiced in Suriname, also some dancing-actions are included.

A traditional performance, based on the Mahabharata and Ramayana is the wayang. Appart from dance as a separate performance, there are also combinations of song, dance and scene. Traditional scene-dance activities are the ludrug, andeh-andeh lumut and ketoprak. A modern scene-dance which has been developed recently here is the cabaret. All these performances are accompanied by gamelan music.

Music