Ronggeng Focus Group Discussions - Veteran Dance Practitioners

Ronggeng Revival Admin
Jul 23, 2022
2 min read

The objective of the Focus Group Discussion is to gather feedback from practitioners who have had engagement with Ronggeng as a social event or art dance, and/or cultural activists who are involved in matters of heritage and culture. The invitees were placed in groups and had a facilitator to guide them as they wrote their perspective in post-its and pasted it on mahjong papers. The invitees were responding to some general questions and after each respective question, the curator was tasked to initiate a dialogue based on what was written. The 2-hours sessions were conducted in both English and Malay simultaneously.

The questions included:

(1) In your perspective and lived experience, what is Ronggeng?

(2) What do you think is the perception of the community about Ronggeng?

(3) In your perspective, how important is it to recognise Ronggeng as an Intangible Cultural Heritage?

We provide a summary of the four Focus Group Discussions below:

Focus Group Discussion 1: Veteran Dance Practitioners (2 Feb 22)

Collectively there seems to be an acknowledgement that Ronggeng is a subgenre belonging to Joget and not something that or should stand on its own. The stories regarding Ronggeng and what it was to them back in their youthful days, seemed to revolve around the night clubs and times of endless partying. There is also a fixation to reference the term to taxi girls that graced the dancing halls at various “Ronggeng Clubs”.

Concerns were raised on the discussions of Ronggeng and how it was being used as an exploitation of the Malay culture during the colonial period. In regards to this, the veterans were also troubled that if Ronggeng was to be reintroduced to the current community, how will the stigma be addressed. They agreed that if it were to be reintroduce, it should be packaged with a new or rather “sanitized" label.

However, others have also spoken about Ronggeng’s colourful history, and its erasure will be disregarding the struggles of cultural agents of the past who have contributed the idea of what Malay Culture was back then. This of course includes the working women known as the “perempuan joget” and arts enthusiasts who went to the clubs.

However, there were also stories that brought them to reminisce them times that Ronggeng was a highlight at Malay weddings from the 50s to the 90s. There also recollection of the music during the 70s through to the 80s. There was also mentions of Siput Sarawak, an iconic figure that represented the term for their generation.