Free school preserves 'lengger' dance legacy<\/p>\n
Slamet Susanto and Tarko Sudiarno, Wonosobo, Central Java<\/p>\n
Wearing a T-shirt and a yellow scarf, Halimah, 16, fluttered her
\nhand gracefully. Her head and legs followed in the same graceful
\nmanner to the sound of the kendang, kenong, kempul and
\ngong of the gamelan orchestra. Other girls watched her movements
\nfrom a distance.<\/p>\n
Soeparno, 60, studied Halimah while giving instructions once
\nin a while. The laughter and the music filled the air at the
\nlengger traditional dance studio in Giyanti village in Selomerto,
\ndistrict, Wonosobo.<\/p>\n
Soeparno, the head of the Rukun Bedoyo Puteri workshop, said
\nthe studio was established by his grandfather, Hadisoewarno, in
\n1975 to train dalang (puppeteers).<\/p>\n
Hadisoewarno often invited his neighbors to practice at the
\nstudio free-of-charge.<\/p>\n
\"There was no lengger or other dance studios at that time,\"
\nSoeparno recalled.<\/p>\n
He said that about 1977, the lengger dance underwent a crucial
\ntransformation: it was performed by female dancers to make it
\nmore attractive. In the past, the dance was performed by men
\ndressed as women.<\/p>\n
As a result of the change, more women became interested in
\nlearning the dance. On the other hand, fewer men wanted to become
\nlengger dancers or puppeteers.<\/p>\n
\"The lengger is a traditional dance that dates back to the era
\nof the Mataram kingdom (8th to 10th century AD). The soldiers
\nentertained themselves with the dance during the war. Since there
\nis no war now, the demands of society also changed.<\/p>\n
\"We do not know who started it, but the dance has featured
\nfemale dancer since 1975 to make it more attractive,\" Soeparno
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The female students at the workshop began opting for the dance
\nrather than the dalang training. In 1980, the dalang workshop was
\ntransformed into a lengger dance workshop. The lengger dance of
\nGiyanti still uses a gamelan orchestra to accompany the dance.<\/p>\n
Besides the studio, the workshop also include a boarding house
\nfor visiting students.<\/p>\n
Soeparno said that the dance workshop had no particular goal.
\nHe said he and his predecessors only wanted to preserve Bali's
\nculture.<\/p>\n
Thus, there is no specific curriculum at the lengger dance
\nstudio, he said, adding that nor was there a time line for
\ngraduation.<\/p>\n
A student who can show his or her ability to perform the
\nlengger is considered \"graduated\". To reach this point can take a
\nstudent anywhere from one month to more than a year.<\/p>\n
Soeparno's family pays for the studio's operational costs,
\nsince students study there for free. Nor does the studio receive
\nfinancial support from the local authorities. Money from the sale
\nof rice from their family land is allocated to pay the studio's
\ndaily expenses. The staff and the students eat modestly.<\/p>\n
\"We do not require the students to pay for their training. We
\neven provide lodging and simple food for visiting students. I
\nunderstand that we are in a difficult situation, but we have
\nabsolutely no intention to close down the studio.\"<\/p>\n
\"There are hundreds of alumni from our workshop; I can't even
\ncount their numbers. Many of them become housewives while other
\nare still performing for a living. We are now housing 13
\nstudents.\"<\/p>\n
Dwi Pranyoto, Soeparno's son, said the students were required
\nto contribute 10 percent of their performance fees to the school.
\nTheir contributions are used to subsidize visiting students and
\nto pay for the day-to-day operation of the studio.<\/p>\n
The school did see an improvement in its financial condition
\nwhen Wonosobo began to attract tourists in 1999. Many travel
\nagencies started looking for lengger dancers to perform at the
\nSasono Krido Budoyo arts building in Giyanti village every Monday
\nevening.<\/p>\n
The dance at the arts building was scheduled to last for
\nbetween one hour and 90 minutes. Because this was shorter than
\nnormal, the dance movements were also cut down. The full dance
\ncan take a whole night to complete.<\/p>\n
Dwi said the studio made about Rp 500,000 (US$54) each time
\nthe students performed the dance. The money is divided among 15
\npeople, consisting of dancers and musicians, after a 10 percent
\ndeduction for the studio.<\/p>\n
\"The final amount is no different from what we get when we
\nperform at hotels. There will be additional money, of course, for
\ntransportation. The hotel operators used to ask us to bring our
\nown gamelan set, though they have their own at the hotels,\" Dwi
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
One tour agent, L. Agus Tjugianto, has pledged to help
\npreserve the dance. He took the initiative to help the studio
\nmodernize its management, for example by creating a commercial
\ndance troupe to earn income.<\/p>\n
However, he noted that the dance troupe still needed to
\nimprove. He said the dancers were not as serious as they should
\nbe about the performance.<\/p>\n
He said at the troupe's last performance at a hotel, the
\ndancers had all the movements down but lacked the passion. The
\nmusicians, he said, also brought their children with them to the
\nperformance, which turned out to be a bad idea when the children
\ncould not sit still through the performance and bothered the
\nother people around them.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/free-school-preserves-lengger-dance-legacy-1447893297",
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