Malaysian Traditional dance

INANG

Mak Inang is a traditional Malay Dance that has its origin from the time of Malacca Sultanate. It
is said to have originated in the Malaccan royal court under the rule of Sultan Mahmud Shah
(1488-1511). The name is believed to have been derived from Mak Inang, the name of a nanny
tasked to look after the royal children, also the developer of the dance. Due to its courtly
origins, it is very graceful as compared to other more social forms of traditional Malay dance.
However, the music is relatively fast-paced.

i. The Dance is performed preferably with a distinctive music. At one time, both song and dance
were taught to the Inang of the palace for them to put on a show during royal functions. The
maneuver and its melody are so elegant. In evolving from a court dance to a folk dance, it has
retained its fast tempo and stylish movements. It is almost always performed by pairs of women
and men as a means of socializing. Each region has its own form of the Inang dance, and hence,
Inang is also performed when one community welcomes guests from another. One example of
the Inang is the Mak Inang Pulau Kampai. Today, the dance is cultivated and called with its
modern name "Inang", and usually performed in social functions like wedding receptions.

ii. When I first heard of the word 'Inang', I couldn't decipher what it means but I got the gist of it
that it is something that's related to entertainment, Guess I wasn't wrong. When I searched for
Malaysian Dance online among a few other traditional dance Inang was one of them. At first, I
wasn't thinking that this dance needs to perform in a pair but it needs to perform in a set of
two.