Zapin is a dance form that is popular in Malaysia (especially in the state of Johor

Johor

Johor is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city and royal city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri...

) and in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, especially in Malay-populated provinces in Sumatera (Riau Province, Jambi province, Riau Islands Province, North Sumatera, and Bangka-Belitung Islands) and West Kalimantan

West Kalimantan

West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak is located right on the Equator....

. It is believed to have been introduced by Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

, Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 missionaries from the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 in the fourteenth century.

In the old days, only males were allowed to perform; nowadays, female dancers are included. It used to be performed exclusively for religious ceremonies but through the years it has become a form of traditional entertainment, hence the participation of female dancers is allowed.

The dancers usually perform in pairs and are accompanied by a traditional music ensemble which normally consists of the gambus, accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

, rebab

Rebab

The rebab , also rebap, rabab, rebeb, rababah, or al-rababa) is a type of string instrument so named no later than the 8th century and spread via Islamic trading routes over much of North Africa, the Middle East, parts of Europe, and the Far East...

, marwas (bongos), rebana (drum) and dok.

There are numerous types of zapin, and each type varies by the movement and style of dance:

• Zapin Melayu Johor
• Zapin Pulau
• Zapin Tenglu
• Zapin Tenglu 2
• Zapin Lenga
• Zapin Pekajang
• Zapin Arab
• Zapin Jambi (Jambi Province)
• Zapin Singapura
• Zapin Sekaki (North Sumatera)
• Zapin Pesisir (Riau Islands Province)
• Zapin Tembung (West Kalimantan
  West Kalimantan
  West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak is located right on the Equator....
  
  )

External links

• Origin of Zapin
• Information on Zapin characteristics
• Personal website on Zapin
• The gambus (lutes) of the Malay world: its origins and significance in zapin Music, Larry Hilarian, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 06 Jul 2004
• Charles Capwell, Contemporary Manifestations of Yemeni-Derived Song and Dance in Indonesia, Yearbook for Traditional Music
  Yearbook for Traditional Music
  The Yearbook for Traditional Music is a peer-reviewed academic journal on the subjects of music and dance research. It is published by the International Council for Traditional Music, once a year in December...
  
  , Vol. 27, (1995), pp. 76-89
• Mohd Anis Md Nor, http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0041-977X(1995)58%3A1%3C205%3AZFDOTM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Z&cookieSet=1 Zapin: Folk Dance of the Malay World, Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1993