Togok Dance: An Analysis of Movement Variations in Malay Gamelan Performance
Abstract
The Togok dance constitutes an important repertoire within the Malay Joget Gamelan tradition, embodying the aesthetic sophistication and historical value in the heritage of the Malay royal court arts. This study deconstructs the Togok composition by Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri Terengganu (SUKTRA) group, employing choreographic theory as an analytical framework. Through a qualitative descriptive approach, the findings reveal that the Togok dance comprises two main categories of movement actions, namely basic movement actions and narrative movement variations. The analysis demonstrates that these movements are rigorously organised according to choreographic principles including continuity, variation, transition, climax, and unity to ensure aesthetic coherence. The visual documentation produced, together with descriptive explanations of each movement variation, is intended to function as a learning guide and academic reference for Malay dance practitioners and performance studies researchers in Malaysia. These findings contribute directly to the safeguarding of the Malay Joget Gamelan’s intangible cultural heritage, offering a robust model for arts education and the sustaining of Malay cultural identity.
Keywords: Togok, movement variations, Malay Joget Gamelan, cultural documentation, SUKTRA
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politik, ekonomi, agama dan budaya (pp. 75–101). Yayasan Sultan Mizan.
2. Ahmad Farid Abd Jalal. (2008). Joget Pahang-Gamelan Melayu: The classical ensemble of
the Pahang royal court. Muzium Negeri Pahang.
3. Ahmad Omar Ibrahim. (2005). Joget Gamelan Terengganu & Pahang: Penerus tradisi seni
persembahan istana Kesultanan Melayu Melaka. Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian
Negara.
4. Aida Nurul Ain. (2021). Gamelan belum dilupakan. Dewan Budaya, 43(3), 22–23.
5. David Irvine. (1996). Leather gods & wooden heroes: Java’s classical wayang. Times
6. Editions Pte Ltd.
7. D’Cruz, Marion. (2011). Joget Gamelan: The royal dance of the Pahang and Terengganu
courts. Malaysian Heritage, 15(2), 28–35.
8. Hadi Santoso. (1986). Gamelan: Tuntunan memukul gamelan. Dahara Prize.
9. Hadi, Y. Sumandiyo. (2012). Koreografi: Bentuk, teknik & isi. Cipta Media.
10. Hamzah Abdul Hamid. (2024). Joget Gamelan Melayu dan perkembangannya. Temu bual
11. peribadi, 27 Januari 2024.
12. Harun Mat Piah & Siti Zainon Ismail. (1986). Lambang Sari: Tari gamelan Terengganu.
Pejabat Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri Terengganu.
13. Harun Mat Piah. (1983). Tradisi gamelan di Malaysia: Tradisi dan pensejarahan. Dalam
14. Harun Mat Piah (Ed.), Gamelan Malaysia (pp. 13–41). Kementerian Kebudayaan, Belia
dan Sukan Malaysia.
15. Ismail Zain. (1983). Kesenian gamelan dalam struktur sosial masyarakat Malaysia kini.
Dalam Harun Mat Piah (Ed.), Gamelan Malaysia (pp. 1–7). Kementerian Kebudayaan,
Belia dan Sukan Malaysia.
16. Kamarul Azmi Jasmi. (2012). Metodologi pengumpulan data dalam penyelidikan kualitatif.
ResearchGate.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293097563_Metodologi_
Pengumpulan_Data_dalam_Penyelidikan_Kualitatif
17. Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia Edisi Keempat. (2008). Departemen Pendidikan Nasional;
Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
18. Kamus Dewan Perdana. (2020). Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
19. Mana Sikana. (2006). Drama Melayu, tradisional, moden dan pascamoden. Dewan Bahasa
dan Pustaka.
20. Mohamad Redza Arham. (2020). Aduh seroja kembang telepuk: Ragaman esei seni budaya.
Pustaka Adiwangsa.
21. Mohammad Khairi & Premalatha Thiagarajan. (2020). Pengkategorian tarian Terinai sebagai
tarian istana, tarian klasik & tarian rakyat. Tirai Panggung, (16), 117-140.
22. Mohd Mokhtar Abu Bakar. (1982). Joget Pahang: Satu usaha menghidupkannya kembali.
Dalam M. M. Abu Bakar (Ed.), Pahang dalam sejarah: Monograf sejarah dan
kebudayaan negeri Pahang (pp. 28–41). Lembaga Muzium Negeri Pahang.
23. Mubin Sheppard. (1967). Joget Gamelan Terengganu. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS), 40(1), 149–152.
24. Muhammad Fazli Taib Saearani & Denny Eko Wibowo. (2020). From palace to communities:
A case study of the classical court dance inheritance in Yogyakarta city. International
Journal of Psychosocial, 24(9), 291-297.
25. Muhammad Fazli Taib Saearani, Abdul Hamid Chan & Nurul Nabila Michael Lung Abdullah. (2021). Pedagogical competency of dance instructors in the training of Malay court
dance skills among upper secondary students at Johor national art school. Harmonia:
Journal of Arts and Education, 21(2), 221–232.
26. Muhammad Fazli Taib Saearani. (2020). From palace to communities: A case study of
the classical court dance inheritance in Yogyakarta city. Heritage Journal of Cultural
Studies, 18(2), 112–128.
27. Muhammad Syaraff Alwi. (2023). Aspek muzik dan skala pentatonik dalam gamelan
Melayu. Temu bual peribadi, 28 Disember 2023.
28. Mustapha Kamil Yassin & Mubin Sheppard. (1970). Temasha Seni Melayu. Universiti
Malaya.
29. Ng Xin Ying & Norsafini Jafar. (2024). Komposisi Joget Gamelan Timang Burung oleh
Ahmad Omar. The International Journal of Arts, Cultural & Heritage (IJACH),
12(2024), 131-172.
30. Norazilawati Abdul Wahab, Ruzaini Sulaiman@Abd Rahim, Arba’iyah Mohd Noor & Mohd
Firdaus Abdullah. (2022). Perkembangan Negeri Terengganu 1920-1942, berdasarkan
Syair Tawarikh Zainal Abidin III. Asian Journal of Environment, History and Heritage,
6(1), 87–106.
31. Norsafini Jafar & Premalatha Thiagarajan. (2023). Performing Joget Gamelan through
archives and social memory. Cogen Arts & Humanities, 10:1, 254043, DOI:https://doi.
org/10.1080/23311983.2023.2254043
32. Norsafini Jafar & Rahmah Bujang. (2015). Creative reinvention of Joget Gamelan in
Malaysia. International Journal of Cultural & Creative Industries, 3(1), 32–39.
33. Nur Izzati Zaidi, Nik Fatin Najihah Nik Mohamad, Ahmad Zam Hariro Samsudin & Irwan
Karuddin Abd Kadir. (2022). Kenali Wan Salmah tokoh seni Terengganu. Jurnal Sejarah
Lisan Malaysia 6(1), 29-45.
34. Panji Prasetyo. (2012). Seni gamelan Jawa sebagai representasi dari tradisi kehidupan
manusia Jawa: Suatu telaah dari pemikiran Collingwood. Skripsi Sarjana Humaniora,
Universitas Indonesia. Perpustakaan Universitas Indonesia.
35. Prima Budi Hastuti. (2010). Gamelan Jawa sebagai sumber ide dalam penciptaan karya
seni grafis. Skripsi Sarjana Seni, Universitas Sebelas Maret. Institutional Repository
Universitas Sebelas Maret.
36. Ruslee Ariffin & Anwardi Jamil. (2021). Gamelan: Nuansa Nusantara. Jabatan Muzium
Malaysia.
37. Siti Zainon Ismail. (1983). Tradisi gamelan di Malaysia: Aspek tarian dan persembahan.
Dalam H. M. Piah (Ed.), Gamelan Malaysia (pp. 42–62). Kementerian Kebudayaan,
Belia dan Sukan Malaysia.
38. Siti Zainon Ismail. (2016). Seni gerak. Dalam A. Din (Ed.), Asas kebudayaan dan kesenian
Melayu (pp. 173–175). Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
39. Teuku Umar Illany Teuku Iskandar & Marzelan Salleh. (2021). Malay Gamelan: Playing
Techniques of the Keromong and Gambang. International Journal of Creative Industries,
3(8), 01-12.
Published
2026-01-31
How to Cite
ARHAM, Mohamad Yunos.
Togok Dance: An Analysis of Movement Variations in Malay Gamelan Performance.
Melayu: Jurnal Antarabangsa Dunia Melayu, [S.l.], v. 19, n. 1, p. 31-58, jan. 2026.
ISSN 2682-8049.
Available at: <http://jurnal.dbp.my/index.php/Melayu/article/view/8871>. Date accessed: 23 feb. 2026.
doi: https://doi.org/10.37052/jm.19(1)no2.
Section
Articles
