By Norhidayyu Zainal
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Main Teri, a traditional Kelantanese Malay heritage practice that combines performing arts with traditional healing, is facing extinction and requires comprehensive conservation efforts.
Apart from a shortage of Main Teri practitioners, few young people are willing to learn the art and carry on the tradition, according to the Department of Culture and Arts Malaysia (JKKN).
Its deputy director-general (Policy and Planning) Rosnan Abdul Rahman said efforts to bring Main Teri performances to wider audiences also face certain constraints, including regulations concerning interaction between men and women, as well as the ritual elements associated with the practice.
“Fewer people are taking up the tradition and there are also fewer Tok Teri (healers). Audiences also face certain constraints in witnessing Main Teri performances in person,” he said during a panel discussion on ‘Main Teri’, held in conjunction with the ‘Himpunan Sebenar Main Teri’ programme at the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (ASWARA), here, recently.
He said becoming a Tok Teri is not a skill that can be acquired through reading, memorisation or classroom training, as the practitioners usually possess a particular lineage, experience under the guidance of a master and certain abilities.
Rosnan, who previously served as JKKN Kelantan director, said efforts to create space for traditional arts require all parties to be willing to engage in dialogue and understand one another’s perspectives.
He said a similar approach had been adopted in efforts to revive syariah-compliant Mak Yong performances in Kelantan after a hiatus of about 30 years, but efforts involving Main Teri are more challenging because they include reciting mantras that require careful consideration by religious scholars.
“They need to understand us and we also need to understand them. The challenge is that the language of artists and the language of religious scholars are different, and they need to be brought into alignment,” he said.
Rosnan said reaching a common understanding between arts practitioners and religious scholars on a form of Main Teri performance acceptable to all parties would take time and require continuous dialogue.
He added that JKKN continues to support the preservation of the art form through documentation and recordings, as well as by providing assistance and performance platforms for traditional arts groups.
Meanwhile, ASWARA Centre for Traditional Performing Arts dean Mohd Kamarulzaman Taib said it is difficult to teach Main Teri comprehensively within the formal education system as this particular performing art has no fixed script, with the characters able to change according to circumstances, while some of its knowledge is passed directly from master to student.
“An institution like ASWARA can play a role by exposing students to the music, singing, acting, movement and philosophy of Main Teri… but we cannot train them to be a bomoh (traditional healer).
He said a one- or two-semester course could only provide basic exposure to Main Teri, while students wishing to delve deeper into the art form would need to continue learning from experienced practitioners outside the formal education system.
“In Main Teri, the performance elements are extraordinary, including the way the music is played, how bodily movements respond to the music, as well as the elements of singing and movement. If that is all we are able to preserve, at least the memory of Main Teri will remain,” he said.
Traditional theatre lecturer and researcher at the School of the Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Associate Prof Dr A.S. Hardy Shafii said Main Teri should be understood within the context of traditional communities, which regarded it as a form of healing for disorders that cannot be seen physically.
He said the concept of angin (literally meaning ‘wind’) associated with the practice refers to a person’s innate motivations and inclinations, which are brought forth through music, singing and bodily movement.
He said Main Teri involves interactions among the Tok Teri, Tok Minduk (a character in the Main Teri performance), the patient and musicians, with the Tok Minduk serving as an intermediary while the Tok Teri attempts to identify what is troubling the patient.
Hardy said documentation, written records and video recordings are important in preserving knowledge about Main Teri, but they cannot replace the experience of witnessing the performance in person.
“We cannot simply read about it and watch recordings. Sometimes, we need to go into the field and witness the performance firsthand to truly appreciate and understand it,” he said.
The ‘Himpunan Sebenar Main Teri’ programme was held as part of the immersive contemporary theatre production ‘Angin Main Teri’, directed by Zahari Hamzah, which was staged at the ASWARA BlackBox on Sept 17 and 18. It was produced by Benzarie Legacy in collaboration with JKKN Kuala Lumpur, with the support of a grant from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
-- BERNAMA