VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The dance is created from the fairy tales of the people of Ogan Kemering Ilir, South Sumatra. It tells about the greatness of a princess, who has strength in her index finger. Allegedly, when the princess points her finger up, the thunder will blaze.

Generally, Puteri Telunjuk Sakti dance is performed by five or more female dancers. It depends on the size of the stage. But, the number must be odd, because one person must act as the princess. The dance movement is dominated by hand movements which symbolize women have power, namely in their actions. At the beginning of the dance, four dancers will form a sitting cross-legged formation, and the princess will continue to dance by getting on a higher place. At the end, all the dancers will take out a dagger and draw it into the sky as a symbol of the true power of women. The dance is accompanied by a combination of traditional South Sumatran musical instruments, including drums, gongs, percussion, and other percussion instruments, and it is also given a touch of accordion as a characteristic of Sumatran Malay music. These various musical instruments are combined with other modern musical instruments, such as guitar and bass.

The dancers of Puteri Telunjuk Sakti wear traditional South Sumatran clothes which are dominated by gold color. The head is decorated with a siger which is equipped with a knitted jasmine flower. While the bottom part of the dancer's clothes is wrapped in black Songket cloth with floral motifs. The left and right hips of the dancers are equipped with scarves and tucked into a dagger.

The dance shows the masculine side of women. In this case, women are actually strong figures and even have hidden strengths. By taking the fairy tale of the princess in its movements, the dance of Puteri Telunjuk Sakti breaks the hegemony of masculine culture. The dance also shows how the people of Ogan Komering Ilir really respect the position of women.