VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Sining dance is considered to have existed in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In the life of the Gayo people in the past, the dance was held in two traditional processions: the procession when building a new house, and the procession for  bathing and acknowledging  the king (munikni reje). In the procession of building a house, the Sining dance is danced on wood (bere lintang) that crosses between two foundations with a height of 8 to 12 meters above the ground level. The day before, this dance is also performed on a tray or container carrying food in moving a closer position  to the ground.

Sining Dance is also played when inaugurating or crowning a king. The dance is held in the field or closely to a water source (lakeside). As part of the coronation procession, the Sining Dance is also held annually to the king as a symbol of self-ablution for any mistakes during his leadership. The Sining dance movement is very dynamic and heroic. It is not easy for people to do this dance on wood (bere latitude). Infrequently, the dancers do fasting one day before dancing so that magical-religious elements are also attached to this dance. The dancers of this dance are usually male. This dance is accompanied by mystical and powerful poetry. Sining dance can be described as a beautiful, dynamic, symbolic and an energetic dance which depicts and imitates the movements of the Ungau and Wo birds. The philosophy of this dance is as a symbol of strength, shade, peace and harmony between the occupants of the house and nature.

Sining dance is now rarely performed. It has never been staged in quite a long time. Therefore, in 2017 the Directorate General of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture through the Directorate of Arts revitalized this dance. One of the efforts is to reconstruct the dance based on continuous research and long discussions with the local cultural experts and academicians. In spite of being rarely performed, Sining dance is not considered almost extinct completely, because the elements of the Sining dance movement are still used in other traditional dances in Gayo, although it is not comprehensive.