Gusmiati Suid

Gusmiati Suid (1942–2001) was an Indonesian dancer and choreographer who specialized in traditional Sumatran, Malay and Minang dances. She studied and later taught dance at the ASKI Performing Arts Academy in Padang Panjang. In 1984, she decided to become a professional choreographer, devoting her efforts to the Gumarang Sakti Dance Company which she had created in 1982. Gusmiati toured widely with the company in the late 1980s and the 1990s, visiting India, France, Germany, the United States, Canada and New Zealand. In her choreographic compositions from 1985 to 1991, she succeeded in combining martial arts-based dances with her own interpretations of Minang music.

Biography Born on 16 August 1942 in the village of Parak Jua, Batusangkar, West Sumatra, Gusmiati was the daughter of the schoolteachers Gasim Shahab, an Arab, and Asiah, a native Minang. In line with local Muslim traditions, she was brought up by her maternal uncle, Wahid Sampono Alam, who instructed her in the local martial arts or silat from the age of four. Following her death, her son Boi G. Sakti continues to run the Gumarang Sakti Dance Company.