ABSTRACT
The Sama is a highly diverse group of peoples inhabiting the central region of Maritime Southeast Asia. The dancers may also add to the musical texture of the kulintangan ensemble by playing wooden, shell or bamboo clappers called bolak-bolak. Recent scholarship has slowly attempted to fill in the gaps in knowledge on the relationship of music and dance. Moving away from the study of the traditional music and dance canon, Bernard Ellorin identifies recent developments in Sama music and dance. Applying concepts from Islamic aesthetics, Mohd Anis Md Nor compares the music and dance of the Sulu Archipelago to the okir or curvilinear designs found in the region. It is worthwhile to return to the idea of the improvisatory nature of the kulintangan music and igal dance traditions, and to connect it to the notion of interactions between music and dance as presented in the preceding section.
