The Datun Julud or “hornbill dance” is a traditional women‘s dance that is popular among the Kenyah tribe of Sarawak.
This dance was once performed during a communal celebration to greet the returning warriors of a headhunting raid, or during the annual celebration that marks the end of a rice harvest season.
It is believed that the dance was conceived by a Kenyah prince called Nyik Selung, to symbolise happiness and gratitude.
Today, the Datun Julud has become a dance of formal entertainment that is often performed in the rumah panjang (longhouse) to greet visitors and tourists.
A solo dancer, a barefooted woman, usually begins the dance, moving spontaneously with a fluid motion to emulate a hornbill in flight. Gracefully and slowly, the dancer moves her arms, legs and torso, careful to keep her head erect and motionless so as to keep her earrings - heavy brass ornaments that dangle from elongated earlobes - from swaying too much.
The dancer is usually dressed in a colourful sarong and an elaborate headdress, which is adorned with protruding tufts symbolising the deities. To represent the wings of the hornbill, she holds beautiful fans made out of the feathers of the sacred bird.
After she is done, another woman takes her place, and this goes on until all the women in the longhouse have taken their turn. On various occasions, the dance is performed by a group of up to four women.
The Datun Julud is often accompanied by the beautiful sounds of the sape, a traditional lute peculiar to the Orang Ulu community or "upriver people" of central Borneo. Two sapes, one three-stringed, the other four-stringed; are customarily played together for the dance. Oftentimes the dancers are urged on by singing and the clapping of hands.
Source : http://allmalaysia.info/msiaknow/arts/dance_julud.asp
