Performing Joget Gamelan through archives and social memory

This study explores the role of archives and social memory in preserving the Malay classical dance, Joget Gamelan. Using ethnographic methods, it examines the impact of archives and repertoire on this dance form. Joget Gamelan originated from Riau Lingga and later spread to the Malaysian states of Johor, Pahang, and Terengganu, where it was performed during royal ceremonies since the 19th century. Its popularity peaked in the 1920s when it was recorded in the Tengku Ampuan Mariam manuscript for preservation. However, as time passed, the dance relied on the “memory” and embodied experiences of master teachers such as Zaharah Abdul Hamid and Wan Salmah Sulaiman, as the manuscript was inaccessible. The preservation through time was dependent on the social memory of female teachers. This study employs Paul Connerton’s “social memory” to explore the changes in the dance form. The teachers reconstructed the dance to meet contemporary demands, and Diana Taylor’s concepts of “archives” and “repertoire” are used to investigate the reconstruction of Joget Gamelan for staged performances. This study does not criticize the current practice or identify shortcomings but rather seeks to investigate the “absences” in the form, which can be recovered through archival sources like old manuscripts, poems, and dance notations. By revisiting the past through these sources, the dance form is expected to reclaim its “forgotten” or “lost” aesthetics. The study argues that the intersection of social memory and archives is crucial in preserving the dance’s originality and re-connecting it with the tradition.