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Pakarena: Indonesian Court Dance from South Sulawesi [Live in South Sulawesi, Indonesia 1990]

3,207 views · Published 23 March 2009 · 4:46 · Indexed 15 October 2026

Channel: Smithsonian Folkways · 2009 · Music

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Pakarena is a traditional court dance of the Makassar region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. In the 20th century, the dance moved out of the court to became a popular form of entertainment. It is now still occasionally performed at a variety of ceremonies including marriages, curing rituals, and circumcisions. In pakarena, energetic, even frenetic drumming accompanies the extremely slow and graceful dance movements of young women. In this pakarena, two-headed drums (gandrang) and a double-reed oboe (puik-puik) accompany two dancers.

Learn more about Indonesian music from the Smithsonian Folkways 20-volume series, Music of Indonesia: https://folkways.si.edu/search?query=music+of+indonesia

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