Monday, May 04, 2009

Sabah Fest visitors captivated by cultural performance

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s annual showcase of its colourful and diverse cultures was launched on Saturday night with a special twist – a little known dance of a Kadazandusun tribe from the remote interior was performed for the first time in public.

The crowd that thronged the Sutera Harbour Resort were enthralled when women from the Dusun Gana community in Bingkor, Keningau district, traipsed daintily through clacking wooden staffs fashioned from belian, Borneo’s hardest wood.

They were performing the rare monsilad dance. For cultural aficionados, the thrill of the hour-long performance began with the rarely seen memahui pogun (cleansing the universe) ritual of the Dusun Lotud community from Tuaran district.

Once thought to be on the verge of extinction, the ritual has been revived thanks to efforts of the Sabah Tourism Board and its subsidiary, Sri Pelancongan Sabah Sdn Bhd.

Continue reading (incl. pic) at: Sabah Fest visitors captivated by cultural performance
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