THE DANGDUT KINGS

Having positioned Nita immediately in front of him, his left fingers clasping her right digits and his right hand behind her shoulders, papa initiated the first few steps- slow cha-cha style as he had tried with Puteri the last time he was at Mutiara, of which was a couple of months ago. Somehow, Nita did not respond, as Puteri did, she, appeared perplexed, she did not move her feet, she, dragged them instead. The fluid movements that rightly should ensued was somewhat stunted, Nita was waiting for the rest of the cue from papa, she wanted him to lead, at least till the completion of whatever steps that papa wanted to show or coached her.
She was the attentive dancer, one who would comply with whatever the customer wanted performed- on the dance floor- that is. Unlike Puteri, of whom, would experiment without inhibitions; as she, was the ‘eager student’ too willing too try anything as long as the steps would not appear too cumbersome and a bit silly. The very words she uttered whence papa booked her, the last time he was there. However, Puteri was not in attendance for the evening, it was her day or rather ‘night’ off. That was the reason he booked Nita instead, recommended by Shima- of course. Compared to Puteri, Nita was a bigger and taller girl and much more mature. With that in mind, she was the more experienced dancer that rightly should be the one ‘leading’ papa instead of waiting for him to show his ‘stuff’.
Papa was verily the ‘mediocre’ dangduteer, he knew only the few basic steps, just enough to ‘bluff’ his way across the dance floor. Novice GRO’s would of course be ‘a bit or rather- minutely impressed’ but not so- for ‘veteran dancers’ the likes of Nita. Feeling a bit for dejected for having his ‘bluff’ called, albeit ‘unplanned’ or more so- ‘inevitably the logical consequence’, papa asked for a ‘take five’.
Having seated, and inhaling- the aphoristic ‘breath of air’, papa and Nita just sat down and ‘enjoyed’ the rest of the songs the band was enthusiastically- performing. It was, at this juncture, duly entered- Abdul Ghafoor- along with a sexily attired dancer. A longtime ‘acquaintance of papa, A.G. for short, is a dangdut ‘veteran’, even though a bit ‘youngish’ to be called one. The reason for the much ‘decorous’ epithet was none other than the fact that he is adept at his ‘art’, being ‘dangdut dancing’ of course.
All, the more, justifiable, whence he gently although gracefully ‘yanked’ his partner towards him, slowly tugging at the wrists, whilst softly made her execute a 360 degree turn without letting go of the ‘arms’. She was also the ‘old hand’ not unlike Nita, for she perfectly ‘understood’ his every cue, reciprocating instantly his sudden ‘charge like’ movements. All, this headiness, the moment the two ‘frolickers’ treaded upon the middle of the dance floor. It just continued and continued, the dancing that is, ever so fluid and ‘uninterrupted’, a continuous and perennial twirling and swirling albeit eminently ‘delightful’ to behold and truly ‘mesmerizing’ in its entirety.
Papa was, without doubt-‘dumbfounded’ if taken, in its, ‘literal sense’. He had witnessed that archetypal, ‘prancing’ numerous times, howsoever, he was still ‘bewildered’. He could not ‘move’ that way, his legs were too ‘heavy’, he had problems making the ‘trademark’ repetitive ‘turns’, he was too awkward. He must acquire the ‘being flexible’ part, foremost, before he can synthesize the ‘boogie’. Resignedly he fixed his gaze towards Nita, knowingly and smilingly she said, “its’ all about the ‘bunga’ or the intricate bits”. Manipulating; at, all times- the intricacies, after the fact, of which, having had, the ‘fundamentals, being wholesomely academic. In other words, one must really ‘master’ the shuffling of one’s feet prior to making any ‘adventurous’ attempts into that peculiarly ‘advanced’ dangdut configuration. Aficionados, having this aptitude are rightly the ennobled personages of dangdut. Veritably, they are, what dangdut’s all about, they were, with dangdut, ever since the seventy’s all the way, until the present day. Pundits would even vouched that they were the ones’ who ‘inherently partake’ in the evolution of dangdut in Malaysia. Whereupon, dangdut must, be taken in its generic conformation, denoting, markedly- the ‘Malay club scene’, as a whole. The veterans, however, could subtly, differentiate the multifarious ‘dance genres’- namely, the cha-cha, zapin, rumba and of course dangdut, emphasizing the delicate maneuvers dexterously, as all the above mentioned ‘dances’ could be executed ‘holding hands’ or utilizing the clasping of all ‘four hands’ whilst dancing. Papa, as of present could not do it, he must learn and diligently practice the ‘steps’ first before attempting something that mimicked A.G’s tricky ‘movements. He is not a ‘dangdut King’, A.G is, along with The Two Cikgus- Cikgu A. Hamad and Zakuan, the few Abang Rajas’ or presumably Pak Engkus’ now and the more than a few much talented younger guys, A.G being one. BEHOLD THE DANGDUT KINGS!