The word "tortor" comes from the sound of the dancers stomping their feet while performing on the board of a Batak traditional house.

However, the opinion that says tor-tor dance has existed since prehistoric times is still doubted by a number of experts considering there is not much evidence to support it.

Although it comes from the Batak, it turns out that if we traced this dance, it was influenced by Indian and Middle Eastern cultures.

There is another opinion that estimates that the tor-tor dance has existed since the 13th century AD and has become part of the Batak culture.

The early development of this dance was only in the life of the Batak people in the Samosir, Toba and parts of the Humbang area.

Ulos is a traditional Batak cloth which colors are generally red, black, and white, added with some decorations made out of gold or silver threads.

The song played in the tor-tor dance is a song with the theme of asking God and ancestral spirits so that all family members are given safety, prosperity, happiness, abundance of sustenance, and hope that traditional ceremonies can be a source of sustenance, blessings for family and society.