Performing Arts and the Royal Courts of Southeast Asia Symposium
The Department of Performance & Media, School of Arts (in collaboration with University of Malaya) held the Performing Arts and the Royal Courts of Southeast Asia (PARCSEA) symposium, 12-13 July 2018, at JC3, Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur.
This seminar brought together current scholarship focusing on the importance of Southeast Asian performing arts heritage of royal courts. Southeast Asia’s royal courts have long been sites for the creation, exchange, maintenance, and development of myriad forms of performing arts, literature, and other distinctive cultural expressions.
The symposium included presentations by prominent scholars from the US and Southeast Asia who presented on specific topics assembled for this program delivering valuable perspectives and insights that helped further our goals of better understanding the important roles of royal institutions in SEA: past, present, and future.
The symposium also included a performance of royal court performing arts, namely, Gunungsari mask dance from Central Java (performed by Javanese dancer Urip Sri Maeny), Asyik royal court dance from Patani and Kelantan (performed by MAWARKU dancers) Joget Gamelan court dance from Pahang and Terengganu (performed by ASWARA dancers), and a special treat to the Bedhaya Banjaransari court dance from Yogyakarta (performed by dancers from the Pura Pakualaman court in Yogyakarta) presented and sponsored by Her Majesty Gusti Kanjeng Bandara Raden Ayu Adipati Paku Alam, Queen of Pakualaman court.
