RP dance troupe brings fiesta to Jakarta<\/p>\n
By Gus Kairupan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Araullo University Dance Troupe was the last
\nof the foreign participants in the Jakarta Festival of the
\nPerforming Arts, but they almost didn't make it.<\/p>\n
On the way from their hometown, Nueva Ecija, to Manila the
\ncompany was hampered by an accident that occurred on a bridge
\nthey had to pass and which took some three hours to clear before
\nthey could continue on their way. By then the plane had already
\nleft, of course, and after being stranded in Singapore for a
\nnight, they finally arrived in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Just as well Gedung Kesenian Jakarta had no other program
\nscheduled for the 29th so the two performances went on as
\nplanned. Otherwise we'd have missed a lively fiesta.<\/p>\n
One element that stood out from the performance of the troupe
\nwas that the dances they performed were not over-choreographed or
\narranged to an extent that required dancers to follow certain
\nrules. Otherwise that would have turned the presentation into
\nmore of a form of artistic movements based on established rhythms
\nrather than an expression of the gamut of emotions through dance.<\/p>\n
Example: to learn the waltz as danced at a party, takes, say,
\nhalf an hour -- alright! two hours, if you happen to have two
\nleft feet. But it would take years and years before you'd be
\nconsidered acceptable to take part in the type of waltz featured
\nin Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake or Nutcracker even if your feet are of
\nthe correct kind -- right and left.<\/p>\n
Of course, for a stage presentation of folk dances, some
\nchoreography is in order. However, the emphasis of the troupe's
\nperformance was firmly on \"fiesta,\" time to celebrate, time to
\nhave fun, time for partying, though some of the programs' items
\nlike Canao Festival and the dances from the Muslim people in the
\nsouth did have ritualistic overtones that called for a modicum of
\nchoreography. So did the dance called Kuntao-Silat based on
\nmovements of a type of martial arts which has an equivalent in
\nIndonesia. Music for the dances was provided by two guitars and a
\nmandolin, except for the dances from the Muslim people which
\nfeatured percussion instruments and a different tone structure,
\ni.e. pentatonic scale.<\/p>\n
The troupe's performance was also a demonstration of the many
\nelements which both the Philippines and Indonesia share. For
\ninstance, some indigenous tribes in Kalimantan also have a dance
\nform in which bamboo poles are used. As for outside influences,
\nthe dance kuntao derives from a type of martial arts that hails
\nfrom China. But it is the Spanish\/Portuguese dance rhythms and
\nmusic that were most prominent in the troupe's presentation.<\/p>\n
Take, for instance, the dance called Habanera Botolena.
\nLiterally, it means a habanera (the name of the dance -- though
\nhabanera could also refer to a dance from Habana, probably
\nidentical to Havana in Cuba) from the area of Botolan. Likewise,
\nthe Jota Moncadena means a jota from the area of Moncada. You
\nfind this type of indicating a dance's (or music's) origins in
\nSpain as well. Terms like sevillana and malaguena refer to dance
\nor music from, respectively, Seville and Malaga.<\/p>\n
Similar dance forms have also been accepted in North Sulawesi
\nwhere the katrili (quadrille) and the lansye (lanciers), along
\nwith the waltz, polka and polones (polonaise) have been adopted
\nby the people of the Minahasa. Although these social dances
\narrived here (and in the Philippines) courtesy of the Iberians,
\nnone of them are actually of Spanish\/Portuguese origin. The waltz
\nis German\/Austrian, the polka comes from Bohemia, the polonaise
\nfrom Poland, and the quadrille and lanciers hail from France.<\/p>\n
Dances for thanksgiving occasions, wedding dances, dances that
\nimitate movements of pomelo leaves, the various ways of wearing a
\nsarong, of scratching away an itch, of cockfighting, and of
\ncourse the kind you'll find in any culture anywhere in the world:
\ncourtship -- including one featuring a man who gets clobbered by
\nthe woman he's wooing and the wife he already has.<\/p>\n
And of course, the troupe also performed what has become the
\nnational dance of the Philippines, the tinikling, in which the
\ndancers hop in between bamboo poles slammed together in ever
\nincreasing tempo. A potential bone-crusher is this dance, but
\nseasoned artists that they are, none of the dancers got a foot
\ncaught.<\/p>\n
What matched the wide variety of dances were the costumes worn
\nby the dancers. These ranged from western type dresses to ethnic
\noutfits. Of the latter, the Canao Festival dances featured native
\ntextiles woven according to the ikat technique. At least, that
\nwas what it looked like from a distance. Unfortunately, by the
\ntime the program had come to an end and we had the chance to chat
\nwith the company backstage, most of the outfits had already been
\npacked, so I couldn't get a closer look at the cloth.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rp-dance-troupe-brings-fiesta-to-jakarta-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}