Jakarta-Summit-Lutan<\/p>\n
JP\/19\/ELLY<\/p>\n
Elly Lutan's 'Nyak' offers nothing new<\/p>\n
The show opened with a man washing his face and arms in ablution.
\nThen slowly, he passed the dancers onstage and disappeared
\nbackstage.<\/p>\n
The opening scene was promising, with the music, the set and
\nthe venue, but Elly Lutan's Tjut Nyak ultimately failed to
\nimpress.<\/p>\n
The dance performance, Nyak, was inspired by an Acehnese
\nheroine who fought against the Dutch invasion. Nyak was a woman
\nwho dared to speak her mind and broke through the male-dominated
\nsociety of the time.<\/p>\n
Tjut Nyak was a portrayal of women who never fear to express
\ntheir ideas: A woman who thinks far ahead and clearly, and
\npresents her art for religion, family, community and her country.<\/p>\n
Elly's previous work focused mainly on women as protagonists,
\nbut this time, Tjut Nyak's presence drowned in a sea of dancers.<\/p>\n
Sometimes we lost her on stage; sometimes we did not even know
\nwhich one was her.<\/p>\n
With a strong background in traditional dances like those of
\nJava, Minang in South Sumatra, Makassar in South Sulawesi and
\nKalimantan, Elly never ventures into the extreme reaches of
\nmodern dance.<\/p>\n
As a result, the audience was given an excerpt of each
\ntraditional dance, linked together into one slow hour.<\/p>\n
Should it be all about Aceh, or would a little bit of Javanese
\nbedoyo dance look good with it? It seemed as though the
\nchoreographer had lost direction and was indecisive while
\ncreating this work.<\/p>\n
It is unfortunate that Elly has some potentially good dancers,
\nbut they could not seem to develop their capacity within the
\nframe of basic, mediocre choreography.<\/p>\n
The ensemble male dancers looked more like decoration instead
\nof a part of the piece, and with more than 15 dancers, the stage
\nappeared cramped and circus-like.<\/p>\n
Slamet Gundono, an performing artist from Solo, Central Java,
\nstole the show by singing an anecdote and delivering some social
\ncriticism. But then the piece turned into street theater and the
\natmosphere changed from flat to worse.<\/p>\n
The redeeming point of the piece is Trie Utami, ex-singer of
\nthe Krakatau Band, who has a powerful voice that creates an
\nambience on its own.<\/p>\n
Armen, the music director, also helped with traditional tunes
\nto indulge the ears.<\/p>\n
Elly definitely needs a stronger thematic concept to explore
\nand take advantage of her dancers capabilities further.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jakarta-summit-lutan-1447893297",
"image": ""
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