Falling for a Javanese folk dancer, beware the surprise<\/p>\n
Text by Singgir Kartana, photos by Ali Budiman<\/p>\n
WONOSOBO, Central Java (JP): Once there was a very pretty
\ndancer in a village in Wonosobo regency, Central Java. Many were
\ncharmed by her beauty. Men in her audiences were infatuated by
\nher and vied with one another for her affections. In a very short
\ntime, this dancer earned her fame and her name became a household
\nword.<\/p>\n
Unexpectedly, however, all this admiration for the dancer
\ndisappeared into thin air and people were shocked when it was
\nfound out that the pretty dancer was a man made up to look like a
\nreal woman. This sensational news caused people to flock to the
\nvillage to prove it was not only a fairy tale.<\/p>\n
That is how the lengger dance first came about, according to
\ntraditional stories passed down in Wonosobo and its surroundings.
\nThis dance is now very popular in Wonosobo, a plateau rich in
\nvegetables. The word lengger is made up of le, the first syllable
\nof ledek (teasing), and ger, the second syllable of geger (uproar
\nor commotion). As lengger is easier to pronounce than leger, it
\nis the former that has become popular.<\/p>\n
There is no historical record, however, about when exactly it
\ncame about. According to legend, the dance was already practiced
\nat the time when Hinduism was first spread in Java. Another
\nversion has it that this dance was first introduced when the
\nPanji epic stories gained their popularity. This latter version
\nmay be true because Panji stories are used as the framework of
\nthe dance.<\/p>\n
Prior to 1960, a lengger dancer was a man wearing women's make
\nup. To convince the audience, usually rather effeminate males
\nwere chosen. The man was made up in such a way that he closely
\nresembled a woman. The dance itself is just like the popular
\ntayub dance. A lengger dance is usually performed by 10 people
\ncomprising a dancer and escorts. The instruments for the
\naccompanying music are simple, including a wind gong, keprak
\n(cymbal) and a number of angklung, suspended bamboo tubes which
\nsound when shaken.<\/p>\n
A lengger dance is usually performed during the night.
\nActually the purpose is to enable the dancer to hide his identity
\nin the darkness of the night. To be erotically attractive to the
\nmale audience, each performance will entail the singing of songs,
\nthe words of which arouse men's sexual desires. The words of
\nthese songs are practically erotic.<\/p>\n
\"People used to call it street art because it was then hawked
\nfrom one village to another,\" said Pak Maat, 61, a former lengger
\ndancer from Giyanti village, Selomerto, Wonosobo.<\/p>\n
However, a performance like this did not last long. The
\naudience became bored with the monotony of the dancing alone. The
\nerotic words of the song, unfortunately, were a stigma for the
\ndance itself. So, toward the 1960s the lengger dance almost lost
\nits popularity. However, some artists and art workers tried hard
\nto revive this dance but a number of factors have made their
\nefforts futile.<\/p>\n
\"The lengger artists have done their best to revive this dance
\nbut the problem now is that films and music have gained access to
\nthis area and become more popular than the traditional lengger.
\nObviously, lengger can hardly sell any more,\" said Pak Maat.<\/p>\n
Not all of the hard efforts made by lengger artists have come
\nto nothing though. Suparno, 51, a dancer from Giyanti village,
\nalso has an obsession with reviving the lengger art. So, in Putri
\nBudoyo, his lengger dance workshop, with about 80 members, which
\nhe inherited from his parents-in-law, he has begun to introduce
\nreform to the dance to suit it to the progress of time. The
\ninstruments for the accompanying music, originally only a wind
\ngong, keprak and angklung have now been replaced by a set of
\nJavanese slendro and pelog gamelan. The songs with erotic words
\nhave been changed with those containing advice. The costumes of
\nthe dancers, originally very simple, have now been turned into
\ncolorful and shiny ones. And last but not least, the dancers,
\noriginally males, are now real women.<\/p>\n
The changes introduced by Suparno, a father of four, has
\nbrought fresh wind to the future of lengger. This reformed
\ntraditional dance seems to have been revived. Many lengger
\ngroups, previously disbanded, have sprung up again, following the
\nchanges introduced by Suparno.<\/p>\n
Today, lengger dance performances are quite attractive. Thanks
\nto the support from Dwi Pranyoto, 27, one of Suparno's children,
\na lengger performance is now complete with a curtain and stage
\nand lighting equipment, as well as a proper sound system. The
\ndance movements have been enriched by those of dances from other
\nregions. The reform in the dance movement was introduced when Dwi
\ncompleted his studies at the dance stream of Yogyakarta's
\nJavanese art high school. So now Suparno and Dwi have made
\nGiyanti village, particularly Putri Budoyo, the largest lengger
\ndance center in Wonosobo regency.<\/p>\n
\"Although the dance element is still predominant in a lengger
\nperformance, I have added some dialog and a little humor, just to
\nprevent it from being monotonous. As for the dance movements, I
\nhave added to lengger the movements of the Javanese, Balinese,
\nSundanese and modern dances,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A lengger performance now usually begins with the horse
\nplaitwork dance performed by six female dancers made up as
\ngentlemen. Then it is continued with the gambyong menak dance,
\nperformed by a number of primadonna dancers. After this dance
\ngoes on for some time, masked dancers appear. These dancers, the
\nsame in number as the gambyong menak dancers, are women made up
\nas gentlemen. Then the masked and gambyong menak dancers dance
\ntogether in pairs.<\/p>\n
\"Those considered as primadonna dancers are usually those who
\nare pretty and can make gracefully flexible dance movements,\"
\nsaid Sumiyati, 21, one of Putri Budoyo's primadonna dancers.<\/p>\n
The last part of the dance closes with a trance attraction by
\nmale dancers. This dance is the most interesting part because of
\nthe surprising and scary scenes. It is surprising, for example,
\nwhen a male dancer in a trance has a woman dancer standing on his
\nshoulders. With the male dancer moving here and there in his
\ntrance dancing, the female dancer keeps on dancing her dance,
\ntoo. This attraction requires excellent skill to keep the balance
\nbecause the woman dancer wears her traditional jarit cloth, which
\ndoes not allow her to freely move her legs.<\/p>\n
A scary scene, for example is when some male dancers, still in
\na trance, eat dangerous objects such as broken glass, razors and
\nburning coal. Surprisingly, nothing bad happens to their mouths.<\/p>\n
All these attractive dancing scenes are the results of
\nimprovisation and reform, proving that conserving a traditional
\nart form does not simply mean presenting the originality of the
\npast without the courage to introduce reforms. Nothing is
\neternal. The lengger dance cannot survive and serve as a cultural
\nidentity without going through a continuous process of change.
\nAnd so lengger must continue to build its identity.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/falling-for-a-javanese-folk-dancer-beware-the-surprise-1447893297",
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