Kuda Kepang, The Dance of The Flat Horses

It was a dark and quiet night. We were seated in a large circle on cemented ground somewhere in the paddy fields of Sekinchan in Selangor, Malaysia. In front of us lay flat wooden horses awaiting their dance partners to pick them up and get the show going. It wasn't long before the sounds of "dings" and "dongs" started filling the warm air of this tropical Malaysian night; sounds created by the musicians or rather percussionists hitting on their musical ensembles, marking the start of the performance that we have been patiently waiting for.