Indonesian dancers perform German poetry<\/p>\n
Christina Schott, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Poems think, says German poet Brigitte Oleschinski in one of her
\nanthologies. Sometimes they think loudly.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday night Oleschinski presented her latest work
\nLautlesung at the Goethe Institute Jakarta. Her performance was
\nunusual in that it was a fusion of the artistic expressions of
\ntwo cultures, German poetry and contemporary Indonesian dance.<\/p>\n
"Two languages brush against each other, two cultures - the
\nlanguage of dance, the language of poetry - where does the
\ntangency begin?" wrote Oleschinski in the performance's program.<\/p>\n
Director Amien Kamil and choreographer Aidil Usman translated
\nOleschinski's thoughtful poems into dance.<\/p>\n
"We shine in the contrast between poetry and dance, language
\nand body, tradition and present," explained Kamil, "a combination
\nof live elements on stage with multimedia in the background."<\/p>\n
Although the duality of words and movement was not erased, the
\ncolorful choreography succeeded in building a bridge between the
\ntone of the German words and the Indonesian surroundings - not
\nleast due to the great musical arrangement of composer Jalu G.
\nPratidina. Unfortunately, the performance seemed to have been
\nenvisioned for a bigger stage and the sound-system was
\noverloaded.<\/p>\n
Thirteen poems were recited by the German author dressed in
\npink overalls, with mask-like make-up accentuating her puppet-
\nlike movements. All of the texts resulted from the impressions
\nand feelings that overwhelmed Oleschinski during her former trips
\nto Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Tropical nights punctuated by mystic sounds and endless
\nthoughts. The contrasts between luxury and poverty, power and
\nhelplessness, Western and Eastern personalities.<\/p>\n
It was not so long ago, in April 2002, that Oleschinski
\nvisited Indonesia for the first time. She had been invited by the
\nIndonesian "king of poets" Rendra to participate in the
\nInternational Indonesian Poetry Festival.<\/p>\n
There she met Amien Kamil, an actor, a dancer and a performer
\nwho had studied for almost 10 years at Rendra's famous Teater
\nBengkel. And that's where the two developed
\nthe concept of bringing Oleschinski's poems to the stage. Later,
\ndance choreographer Aidil Usman joined the project. He had
\npreviously worked with choreographer\/dancer Boi G. Sakti and had
\nin the JakArt Festival.<\/p>\n
"It was in Indonesia, where I learned what it means to perform
\npoetry - so different from the German type of readings (that are)
\nso dry that you need a water glass besides the book," says 49-
\nyear-old Oleschinski. "This country was very friendly to me, it
\ngave me this amniotic fluid feeling, wrapped in the warm tropical
\nair. Before my creative process was stuck, but here everything
\nstarted to move again. So I agreed to the idea of transforming my
\npoetry into a stage performance."<\/p>\n
This fertile idea became Lautlesung which has already been
\nperformed in Cologne and in Berlin earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Amien Kamil's ambition was to give these poetic thoughts a
\nphysical expression. The sometimes meditative, sometimes wild
\nchoreography tells us as much about introverted feelings or outer
\nconflicts as Oleschinski does in her poetry recitations. The
\nhighlight of the performance is definitely the piece Rebel behind
\nthe screen, in which Aidil Usman dances while Bulgarian women
\nsing Oleschinski's poems.<\/p>\n
Still a direct connection between the poetry and the movement
\nis not always evident.<\/p>\n
Lautlesung certainly leaves questions open, but maybe that is
\nits intention.<\/p>\n
"Of course, you cannot fit both cultures together without any
\nfriction. Although the concept of our program is harmonic, almost
\nmeditative... it still includes a lot of contradictions,"
\nOleschinski said. "But this is exactly the challenge and the task
\nof art - to show these frictions and keep the thinking process
\nalive."<\/p>\n
Even the title Lautlesung plays with the possibilities of
\ninterpretation.<\/p>\n
Laut ist der Klang, und Laut ist das Meer - der Klang wird
\ngelesen, das Meer wird gelesen (Sound is the tone and sound is
\nthe sea - the tone is to be read, the sea is to be read) - starts
\none of Oleschinski's poems.<\/p>\n
In German, the word lautlesung means the reading of sounds. In
\nIndonesian laut means "sea" - and lesung a vessel to pound rice.
\nAll this means that not every expression can be translated
\nliterally.<\/p>\n
Last year, Oleschinski recited her poetry at, among other
\nplaces in Indonesia, on Madura island, in front of the students
\nof a pesantren Islamic boarding school. Many in the auditorium
\nmay not have understood the meaning of her words (including
\n"lust", "vomiting" or "vagina"). They may even have been shocked
\nat the sight of the strange woman who wore the jilbab (veil) in a
\n"pirate-like" style and started her reading with a penetrating
\ncry.<\/p>\n
Even so, after her performance she was surrounded by girls
\nwith shining eyes, congratulating her and saying that the German
\nwoman had exactly articulated their own inner feelings.<\/p>\n
"I don't want to go," wrote Brigitte Oleschinski at the end of
\nthis visit to Indonesia as she was about to leave for Germany.
\n"It's absurd, a cliche of the tropics, the European soul infected
\nwith its own projection of the foreign parts, but, I don't want
\nto go."<\/p>\n
Oleschinski has left Indonesia before but she has always
\nreturned. Hopefully she will come back again.<\/p>",
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