The music and dances of the Portuguese community in Melaka have fast and cheerful characteristics. The musical instruments that are used usually include the guitar, tambourine, accordion and local percussions. Dancers are normally in couples who will wear colourful clothes, where the men wear bolero jackets in black and a hat while the women wear colourful embroidered skirts. The main songs or popular dances include Branyo, Tianika, Maliao and Farapeira. One of the most popular songs among the Portuguese community in Melaka is the ‘Jingkli Nona’.

DANCES
In Melaka’s Portuguese community, there are several types of dances, among them Branyo and Farapeira that remain to this day. There are also several other Portuguese cultural dances that have disappeared or are very rare, namely Kanji Papa, Sarampeh, Riba de Barku, Veri Hi and Corte Forte.

‘BRANYO’ DANCE
This dance is usually held during celebrations and festival days such as weddings, Christmas or other celebrations. This dance is more popular among older persons or veterans. This dance is accompanied by musical instruments such as violins and tambourines. While dancing they exchange pantun poems. The party ‘selling’ the poem is known as 'kantiga' and the ‘buyer’ or responder of the poem is called 'mata kantiga'. The Branyo dance has a little similarity with the ronggeng or joget lambak dances that are famous among the Malays. Usually there are five to six pairs of dancers who will be involved in the Branyo dance.

'FARAPEIRRA' DANCE
This dance is preferred by the young people of the Portuguese community because it has a fast and lively rhythm. The dance couple will wear special costumes. Male dancers wear waistcoats that are laced and embroidered with floral motifs while female dancers will wear long dresses and laced blouses with frizzes. The Farapeirra dance is usually performed on celebratory days. It used to also be very popular during the wedding ceremonies that take place in the Portuguese Village.

SINGING
The singing of Portuguese songs is closely related to the sea-going world or the greatness of the Portuguese navy in the past. Among the songs is 'Ala Merineyeros' which basically means 'Oh the Mariners' while the song 'Norude Mantiquera' also carries a similar meaning, such as ‘Oh Our Army’. Other songs have a love theme such as 'Amor' and 'Flores Yeo Kubisa'. While the songs for young people are like 'Cora Yo Ter Bai Cangkol', 'Corante de Ledrang', 'Oh! Amor' and 'Nina Boboi'.

A few verses of the perennially fresh song that is played until now, 'Jingkli Nona':

Jingkli nona, Jingkli nona,
Yo kereh kazah,
Kaza nunteng porta nona,
Klai lagu pasha.
Teng kantu teng,
Kantu teng falah nunteng,
Amor, minya amor,
Amor minya korasang.