Tari Tualang Tiga

Oleh : Kampunghouse (https://kampunghouse.wordpress.com/)


Tari Tualang Tiga (Dance of the Three Tualang Trees) is probably as close as you can get to a Malay war dance, in a culture more known for its charming grace and gentle sways. Based on the lyrics, the song and dance is performed to psych up fighters before an impending battle, although what is interesting is that, while it’s very common for the all-female dancers to channel feelings of brute force and intimidation to inspire courage in the audience, the song seems to also allude to an all-female battle crew.

The tualang is a giant tree found in the thick old-growth rainforests in Malaysia. I’m not entirely sure why the dance is named after the tree; it could be due to the sturdy wood structure, so tough that it’s actually not favoured by the timber industry, or more plausibly, the tragic legend of a palace handmaiden named Hitam Manis (Sweetly Dark). Hitam Manis fell in love with the prince, but alas, they could not marry because she was a commoner. The Sultan got word of the affair and was furious that his prince could fall in love with a commoner. Hitam Manis and her fellow maidens were forced to flee the palace, and as she was escaping, a metal spear pierced her heart. She and her maidens turned into bees and flew away. It is said that the bees which inhabit the tualang tree are descendants of Hitam Manis, and til this day, during the elaborate ritual of the tualang-honey hunting, no metal instrument is used to retrieve the honey, in deference to the suffering of the handmaiden.


This song features a rather common attribute of Malay folk songs whereby there is an interjecting phrase mid-sentence, for example:

“menyusun tari, ala tari, sembah diberi”
“menjunjung tinggi, amboi tinggi, seni sejati”

This abrupt musical device helps create emphasis and tempo to make it more “catchy” in an otherwise slow-paced song.

p/s : Ada banyak versi lagu ni,ada versi nyanyian Aishah dan Siti Nurhaliza.tapi aku lagi suka versi Saloma dalam filem Sumpah Orang Minyak dan Sanisah Huri, cara nyanyian nya memang kena dengan lenggok lagu.

 Versi Sanisah Huri


 


Versi dalam filem "Sumpah Orang Minyak