Boria (theatre)
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{{Infobox dance
| name = Boria
| native_name = Boria
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| origin = Malaysia
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{{Infobox music genre
| name = Boria
| stylistic_origins = Music of Malaysia
| cultural_origins = Malaysia
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{{Music of Malaysia}}
{{Dance drama of Southeast Asia}}
Boria (Jawi: بوريا) is a form of Malay theatre of Indian origin which has through adaptive processes, become the one and only theatre of Malay community in Penang, Malaysia{{cite book |title=Boria: a form of Malay theatre (Local history and memoirs)|pages=xii,1 & 2|author=Rahmah Bujang|isbn=978-9971-988-58-6|year= 1987|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies}}
History
Records on the origin of Boria are fairly limited but it was first mentioned by H.T. Haughton in 1897 which according to him, it was first brought to Penang in 1845 by the Muslim soldiers of 21st Madras Regiment. It was originally played to celebrate the annual Shiite festival, the Mourning of Muharram. In 1910, R.J Wilkinson, a Straits Civil Service officer and a noted scholar of Malay studies, made a comparison between the boria of Madras and Penang, and established that the resemblance was only in name, for the show as then known in Penang had evolved to a totally different form.
The performance
A typical Boria troupe consists of a leader, a chorus, comedians and musicians. The performance normally begins with a short comic sketches and followed by a song-dance routine featuring a juxtaposition of choral and solo parts. The song-dance routine commonly performed in a western music style and with dance forms such as rumbas, cha-cha-cha or soul.{{cite web|url=http://www.dancemalaysia.com/Dance/Traditional/Folk_Dance/Boria/boria.htm|title=Boria|publisher=Dance Malaysia|accessdate=28 November 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.musicmall-asia.com/malaysia/folk/boria.html |title=Music for Theater: Boria |publisher=Musicmall Production Pte Ltd |year=2004 |accessdate=28 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514005605/https://www.musicmall-asia.com/malaysia/folk/boria.html |archivedate=14 May 2011 }}
Boria's theme varies from Arab warriors, European traders to Chinese shopkeepers around which the costumes and comic improvisations revolved. The main melodic instruments has consistently violin but various Western, Malay, or Indian drums and Chinese cymbals are also used in the performance.{{cite book |title=The Garland Handbook of Southeast Asian Music|page=236 & 237|author=Terry Miller & Sean Williams|isbn=978-0-415-96075-5|year= 2008|publisher=Routledge }}
References
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