VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara is famous for its unique culture. In this region, there is a war dance called ‘Tua Reta Lou dance’. This traditional dance has existed since the 10th generation and is known from generation to generation. Tua Reta Lou is a traditional dance from Hewokloang-Seusina Raya village, covering Hewokloang, He'o, and Kewa villages, Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara.

This dance depicts fighting techniques and how their ancestors at that time defeated their opponents, by using a stick of bamboo. The dance consists of 3 combined dances, namely Awi Alu, Mage Mot and Tua Reta Lou dance. The dance was danced in succession by a dozen male and female dancers. Usually, the dancers will be accompanied by the beat of the rhythm of the gong waning with various types of strokes. The three dances are related to the agility of war that must be owned by every man.

The Awi Alu dance describes lower body agility training. At this stage, the dancers jump between wooden or bamboo sticks that are bumped by other dancers.  Then, the Mage Mot dance is intended to train upper body agility. In the Mage Mot dance, the stick is placed parallel to the neck. The last one is that the dance of Tua Reta Lou demonstrates one’s snooping skills. In this session, a male dancer complete with his sword is raised to a bamboo pole by his friends. The dancer rests on the end of the pole with his stomach. He turns in all directions as if he is monitoring the situation while several female dancers dance around them.