Joget Gamelan

The Joget Gamelan is a court dance that exudes grace, dignity and beauty.

The Gamelan Melayu had its roots in Riau-Lingga (a province of Sumatra) and was introduced to the Terengganu Court in the 1920s by the late HRH Tengku Ampuan Mariam, a princess from Pahang who later became the consort of HRH Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah, the Sultan of Terengganu from 1914 to 1942. The Joget Gamelan as it is called, comes with a nine-piece ensemble and is now performed at many state organized events, including the Sultan’s birthday and cultural events.

In its glory days (1920s and 1930s) dancers were sometimes “possessed” by spirits who made them lose their senses and made them go into a trance. No explanation was recorded as to why this happened but in a land where superstitions and beliefs in spirits exist, the hysterics raised was a common occurrence, especially when performances were done late into the night.

Much to our relief, the Joget Gamelan dance is now performed without the mystical occurrences that it once had.

Visitors are welcome to witness a performance at the following venue, on Saturday mornings at 1100 hrs.

Venue: Warisan Sari, Laman Santai Gamelan, Kg Tok Jembal.

For enquiries and directions to the venue, call the following numbers: +6017 9263395; +60199292066; +6019 9786607 and +6013 9374747.