Surabaya street dancer fights for livelihood<\/p>\n
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
Street dancer Laksmi's heavily made up face glistens with
\nperspiration. The heat is stifling but the 42-year-old, who makes
\na living performing the jaranan (traditional dance), barely
\nnotices.<\/p>\n
Arriving out of breathe due to the cumbersome tape recorder
\nused for her performance of the \"welcoming\" dance from
\nTulungagung, the dancer benefits from a quick rest in a shady
\nspot nearby Surabaya's municipal council.<\/p>\n
First, Laksmi plays her tape of traditional Javanese songs;
\nthen she waves her red scarf, indicating that she is about to
\nbegin.<\/p>\n
A crowd gathers around her, some people give her money, moved
\nby the dance.<\/p>\n
She hides the money in her clothing and heads off in search of
\nanother suitable dancing venue.<\/p>\n
It has been the same everyday since 1999, from 8 a.m. until
\nsunset Laksmi roams the streets of the overcrowded city of
\nSurabaya.<\/p>\n
Though she is playing a key role in preserving the jaranan,
\nwhich is rarely performed today, money is the dancer's main
\nmotivation.<\/p>\n
\"I'm exhausted but happy. My children are both in elementary
\nschool and any money I make is put toward their education costs,\"
\nsaid the woman, who earns Rp 20,000 (US$2.10) a day performing
\nthe dance she learned in her hometown of Banyuwangi, about a 30-
\nkilometer ferry trip from Gilimanuk harbor, Bali.<\/p>\n
Laksmi said she had worked at a factory in Surabaya in 1998,
\nbut it closed when the economic crisis hit, leaving her jobless.<\/p>\n
She became a street dancer as her husband's income -- as a
\npedicab driver near the Joyoboyo bus terminal in Surabaya -- was
\nbarely enough to feed the family. She sewed the dancing costume
\nherself with materials bought from money saved during her factory
\nstint.<\/p>\n
Her family keeps moving from one place to another. At one time
\nthey were evicted from their house in the slum area of Nginden,
\nSurabaya. They now live in a modest house near the old Joyoboyo
\nbus terminal on Jl. Wonokromo.<\/p>\n
For others dancing is an art form, but for Laksmi it's a means
\nof giving her children a chance in life.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/surabaya-street-dancer-fights-for-livelihood-1447893297",
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