Balumpa Dance of Binongko Island, Wakatobi District

Only a few of tourists recognize the beauty of Wakatobi’s traditional dances. It is because they only focus on nature attractions when visiting such district. In this case, travelers need to learn more about numerous local performances, especially Balumpa. It is a signature entertainment in Binongko Island and it has become a significant tourist lure! The dance represents dancers’ joy and it is usually performed during a special greeting to important guests. Balumba is done by beautiful young girls and it is accompanied by traditional psaltery. Sometimes, it is also performed by couples, including 4 male and 4 female dancers.

The Nuance
One of the lures of Balumpa Dance is the attires. The dancers wear a colorful costume, combining several colors like yellow, red, and green. They also wear a head accessory and apply makeup on their face. When it comes to accessories, they put on several items like necklace, bracelet, earrings, and a traditional shawl. As mentioned before, the dance has an accompaniment, which is psaltery. Not to mention there is a vocal or song in it. All of them combine into a beautiful performance and it emits a cheerful nuance!

Enjoying Balumpa Dance
Tourists have different reasons when it comes to enjoying Balumpa Dance. Well, some of them are into its history. That means they want to know the origin of such beautiful performance. According to local people, Balumpa belongs to Wakatobi, especially Buton and Binongko Sub-district. In the past, the dance was utilized to greet honored guests of the king. Due to the cheerfulness of the show, everyone could feel the happiness or joy. Thus, it was used to impress the guests and elevated their moods. Today, the joy remains and Balumpa becomes public’s entertainment in Wakatobi.

Apart from the history, tourists are also curious about the meaning of the dance. The prime purpose was to greet the guests of Buton Kingdom. However, it has other valuable meanings, as well. For example, Balumba represents both happiness and gratitude. The expression of the dancers shows it all, after all. Not to mention their movements are both energic and beautiful. For tourists, it becomes quite an entertainment. That means they might feel happy by simply watching the performance for several minutes. This explains why the dance keeps attracting tourists in visiting Binongko Island.

In general, Balumpa Dance is performed by girls. Despite the tradition, male dancers are also allowed to perform it. It is because local people try to give some improvements to the performance, so it becomes more variable and attractive. Moreover, the government has done some efforts to conserve Balumpa with the hope that it can lure more tourists to visit Wakatobi District. Not only it becomes an interesting dance, but Balumba also offers valuable history and values to the audience.

Nearby Attractions

• Waloindi Stone Park
• Buku Beach
• Tomia Island
• Lintea Tiwolu Island

How to Get There
In order to reach Binongko Island, travelers need to head to Wangi-Wangi Island first. They can go there by airplane and the destination is Matahora Airport. From there, the next checkpoint is Wanci Port. They must rent a speedboat and head to Bingongko right away.

Where to Stay

• Wakatobi Resort