Monday, April 18, 2011

Looking Back: On Poco-Poco

If you recall sometime back that Harussani Zakaria, the Perak State Mufti has been making noises about the Poco-Poco dance, I noticed that most of the calls made are based on incorrect assumptions or on worse case, they never bothered to do extensive read work before making the decision.

Poco-Poco originated from Sulawesi, which is part of Indonesia. Since Indonesia is by right the country with the largest Muslim population, but largely performed there, therefore it is legitimately performed. Many actions have been done just because with the excuse of "recruiting God" for work. But it speaks otherwise.

According to the Minahasa, Poco-poco originates from the Muluccas. Specifically from Ambon. Whereas Tebe-tebe originates from Timor. Sajojo is from Irian. Ofcourse these three dances have their specific properties in accordance with their place of origin. They in fact are folk dances?” said Jery.

All three have a happy character. Specific to the Poco-poco are the steps broken into alternately changing directions. The count goes as 1-2-3-4. Tebe-tebe is almost the same and starts with the right foot. “But Poco-poco is more broken” clarifies Jery.

Many websites that I've looked upon for some basic understanding reveals that the dance is more or less for group aerobics. I am pretty sure that some of us have participated in physical exercises, and this can be one of them. Why must this be used as a religious excuse?


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