The Tari Merak or Peacock dance is a female dance. Merak means peacock and the choreography is inspired by the beautiful movements of a peacock. Raden Tjetje Somantri, who was one of the most important choreographers who created Sundanese style dances in this period, created the choreography of the Tari Merak in the 1950’s. In 1965, Dra. Irawati Durban Ardjo, a teacher of a dance academy in Bandung, West Java, created a new choreography with altered movements, structures, music and costumes.

This dance shows an imagination of a peacock’s life in a form of a dance. The gestures of a peacock are beautifully blend together with the classical movements of the Sundanese dance and thus making the dance a colorful expression of the proud peacock, which is showing its beautiful feathers.