SIWALIMA GROUP

Profile

The Siwalima Group, consisting of twenty members, comes from the Maluku Islands.

Performance: Tari Pinamou and Tari Mahina Arika
Synopsis

Pinamou is an initiation ritual performed by the Nualu tribe, the natives of Seram Island. Pinamou derives from two words, pina (daughter) and mou (mute).
When a girl has her first menstruation, she is, for a certain period, she is put into solitary confinement in a hut called Posone or Pusen. When she is allowed leave the hut, she is presented with a special hat, the Pinamou, and from then on she is accepted as a full member of adult society.

Tari Mahina Arika  is about the role females play in society on the Maluku Islands. The dance pictures female chores and duties in the house and at the same time points to her efforts to be regarded as man’s equal.