Its dancing time @ Cecar Village Flores- Indonesia

Upon reaching Flores Island, we realized the popularity of Caci dance of Cecar village. Cecar Village is in Manggarai district in Flores Island.
On second day of our visit, we were supposed to visit Cecar Village. It was a cool breezy morning up the hills. Surrounded with picturesque greenery and beautiful views of sea, Cecar village is a beauty in its own. As we reached the venue, there was a traditional welcome ceremony. Dancers group leader welcomed our group leader and there was a pleasant exchange of dialogue between both leaders.

Welcome by the leader

Then we were served sopi drink of palm tree as a welcome drink.

Exchange of dialogues between our group

This was followed by the most popular Caci dance. There was a balcony area set for us to view the dance. But we were so engrossed with the whole concept of dance and costumes and drum sounds of dance that we sort of got hypnotized and stood where we were to see the magnetic performance.

Dancers of Caci dance

There was a group of ladies playing music and a group of men singing and another group of men dancing.

Caci Dance at Cecar Village

It was a very synchronized performance. After a dialogue, a dancer would stand with vado( chabuk) in front of another dancer who would defend himself with ‘Koret’ and ‘Toda’. This dance symbolizes the harmonious togetherness in a family where the vado signifies the problem and Toda signifies Mother and Koret signifies Father. Dance shows how Mother and Father together provide protection to the family as a team. This is a special dance in Manggarai district and is a fusion of dance, art, music and fashion art.

Lady drummers

Next dance was Ndun dun take dance or Tiring Mawo Dance. Girls in pink dress and sarong danced with big cane plates and baskets. Tiring Mawo is a way to separate the grain and chaff. 

Tiring Mawo Dance

Boys would accompany them and dance to the tune. The rice is poured from a certain height so that the chaff is blown by the wind. This dance is performed by the women during rice harvesting.

Then was a bamboo dance or Rangkuk Alu dance that reminded me of our own Indian culture and a movie in which a song was picturized in Bollywood. I too jumped in that dance. It was a lovely experience.

Rangkuk Alu Dance

Myself dancing in Rangkuk Alu Dance

Next dance was a beautiful dance of harmony. In that dance girls wore stoles and at the end they were supposed to put those stoles to audiences whom they wanted to dance with. One of the girls put the garland in my neck as well and I felt honoured to dance with her. At the end, it was lovely to see all dancers together. I was so happy to see these traditional dances as I could find many connections to India. In Caci dance, men had performed with tail at the back that reminded me of Ramayana.

Tiring Mawo Dance pose

Overall a fantastic experience leaving memories of lifetime. It was a great show and one should never miss it. Specially, if you want to know about traditions and culture. I strongly recommend to see this dance performance to everyone visiting Flores Island, Manggarai District.

Scenic view from the place

Caci Dancer

Another Caci dancer

Our group with all artists

Nidhi KM

©Viharin.com

Disclaimer– Please note that my trip to Indonesia was sponsored by Indonesia Tourism board. All opinions regarding Indonesia are purely mine and experience based. None of the opinions have been in any way influenced.