Dancing the Dero reconciles enemies in Poso<\/p>\n
Ruslan Sangadji, Palu<\/p>\n
A number of young women and men began forming a circle by holding
\ntheir hands together. They moved in rhythm with the Doni Dole
\nsong from a cassette player and a local Poso singer.<\/p>\n
The music, resembling the cha-cha, is often played at parties
\nin Poso when youngsters dance the Dero, a social and friendship
\ndance for people in the Poso area.<\/p>\n
Now, however, the Dero dance of Poso has begun to dwindle in
\npopularity following years of religious and racial conflict.
\nPreviously, the dance, which was customarily performed on special
\noccasions, like weddings and other celebrations, it is now rarely
\nseen in the area, least of all in Poso town.<\/p>\n
No one knows for sure when the dance first originated in Poso.
\nBut one this if for sure, the Dero dance is an ancient tradition
\nof the Pamona people, who are indigenous to what is now known as
\nPoso regency.<\/p>\n
Historically, the dance would usually be performed during
\nharvest celebrations (Pandungku) in the religiously divided town
\nof Poso. It became something of a necessity for Poso residents to
\ndo the dance at every Padungku ceremony, not only in Christian
\nareas, but also in Muslim-dominated areas.<\/p>\n
For Poso residents at the time, the Dero was not just a social
\nor friendship dance, but used as a means to find a mate. Usually,
\na meeting between a girl and boy at one of these dances would
\nculminate in marriage. \"Because, in between dancing, two souls
\npromise to share their love and later get married,\" Yan Patris
\nBinela, a Tentena community figure, told The Jakarta Post
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
But now, the Dero dance is not an attractive spectacle anymore
\nin Poso as Muslims have changed their way of perceiving it and
\nhave been instructed that it is against Islamic teachings --
\nespecially because males and females hold hands.<\/p>\n
Prohibitions of the dance are now constantly promoted
\nin Poso town. A Muslim figure in Poso, Adnan Arsal, said that
\nIslam forbids a male from holding hands with the opposite sex,
\nunless it is a brother and sister. \"That's why we forbid Muslims
\nfrom taking part in the dance,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The ban by Muslim leaders here only started after the troubles
\nbegan in the late 1990s. Now, that there is a relative calm, the
\nban is being violated because many Muslim young people in Poso
\ntown are not of the same opinion as the clerics. Young people of
\nPoso frequently defy the elders and travel outside their sectors
\nto do the Dero dance.<\/p>\n
The situation has not only confirmed Dero's tradition in Poso
\nbut has become a means to reconciliation for Poso's youth, who
\nless then two years ago were enemies, said chairman of Poso's
\nNational Unity and Care for the People Association, Amirullah
\nSia, also a Muslim leader here.<\/p>\n
According to Amirullah, there is a sense of togetherness and
\nfriendship between people when they dance. They feel like they
\nare a family.<\/p>\n
\"This has been proven between Muslim youths of Poso and Lage
\n(Christian area) who blended together in a Dero dance circle.
\nThey held hands together while dancing. That is what I call
\nreconciliation,\" said Amirullah who was also Poso's Malino
\nDeclaration taskforce coordinator.<\/p>\n
A cultural observer and artist in Central Sulawesi, Hapri Ika
\nPoigi admitted that when he looked at the religious angle, the
\nDero dance would surely contradict Islamic teachings and values
\nbecause it is forbidden for boys and girls to hold hands. \"But,
\nwe should view it like we do other traditional dances,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Now, the native Dero dance has moved to Palu, capital of
\nCentral Sulawesi. A number of places hold the dance and attract
\nlarge crowds every Saturday night. They are arranged by youth
\norganizations and artists in Palu.<\/p>\n
Its movements, once monotonous, are now more dynamic without
\nlosing the basic movements, which include stamping the feet twice
\nto the left and then twice to the right. Consequently, they call
\nit a modified Dero dance competition.<\/p>\n
Based on historical records at the Central Sulawesi Art
\nCouncil (DKST), the Dero dance, which has existed since the
\nforefathers of the Pamona people settled in Poso, was popularized
\nagain in the early 1990s and was the arts and culture
\ncontribution from Central Sulawesi for the \"Beautiful Indonesia\"
\nexhibition at Miniature Park (Taman Mini) in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Not only that. The dance was once also quite popular on Hawaii
\nin the U.S. According to the director of DKST Intje Mawar
\nLasasi, an artist from Central Sulawesi, who is now doing his
\nmaster's degree in the U.S., occasionally performs the Doni Dole
\nsong, accompanied by Dero dancers, in Hawaiian exhibitions. \"Amin
\nAbdullah even collaborated with a Filipino and an American artist
\nthere,\" said Intje.<\/p>\n
Because of the way it has survived, been exported and used as
\nmeans to reconciliation, she believes that the Dero dance in Poso
\nshould never perish. The tradition must be maintained because the
\ndance has become part of Indonesia's cultural heritage.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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