Exploring Principle Components for Digital Heritage Preservation on Malay Folk Dances

The culture of Malay has its own unique and distinctive identity and is the largest ethnic group that account for more than half of the Malaysia population. Performing arts is one of the creative forms of culture expressions that had been classified under the intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. Dance is one of the domains within the performing arts that symbolised each unique ethnic group culture identity. Malay folk dances can be identified within certain regions or spiritual practices, often performed in festive celebrations such as wedding parties or religious ceremonies that include the dance movements, music and costumes. The preservation and enhancement of intangible cultural heritage through digital technology are becoming extremely important as to safeguard this irreplaceable source of social identity from fading away especially to the younger generation. Sustaining the continuity and integrity of cultural identity through folk dance would provide a local sense of unity and belonging, thus the transmission of intangible cultural heritage through digital technology is imperative as to ensure its wider recognition and dissemination. This paper is a part of research in laying foundation for digitising Malay folk dances comprises of movements, music and costumes. It focuses on the role of digital technology on enhancing cultural experience by exploring principal components with regards to their similarities and differences.