Symbolism significant in Australian aboriginal dance<\/p>\n
By Yenni Kwok<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Symbolism, particularly color symbolism, is the
\nmain element in Ochres, a contemporary Aboriginal dance performed
\nby Bangarra Dance Theater at Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, last
\nFriday and Saturday.<\/p>\n
Yellow, black, red and white are the main colors examined;
\neach symbolizes a different aspect of human existence on earth,
\nnamely womanhood, manhood, pain and life.<\/p>\n
Although in the Sydney-based Bangarra's production, Ochres
\nrefers to colors of the land, the original meaning of the word
\nitself is the colors of earthy clay, which can be used as a
\npigment in paints.<\/p>\n
And ochre plays an important role in traditional Aboriginal
\nlife.<\/p>\n
It is used as body paint before people start a ceremony; a
\nconcept that Ochres uses to start its five-part performance.<\/p>\n
The bulky, rather chubby Aboriginal man (Djakapurra
\nMunyarryun) sat in the middle of the stage. He slowly covered his
\nface, his arms and his body with the yellow paint, re-enacting
\nthe tradition. He then stood and, taking wide steps to the side,
\nspread sand on the stage... before he disappeared into the earthy
\nhole.<\/p>\n
The man was the Ochres Spirit. His presence at the beginning
\nof the show and his re-emergence from the earth at the end
\nsignified that this was his show.<\/p>\n
And, in fact, it was the show of the dancer Munyarryun. He had
\nan ability to capture the audience's attention, even with seven
\nother dancers on stage. His big body's graceful movements stood
\nout among the lean figures of the other dancers.<\/p>\n
Munyarryun is not only a dancer. He also gave advice about the
\ntraditional paint-up and preparation process to
\nArtistic Director Stephen Page, who also choreographed the
\ncompany's performance at the closing ceremony of this year's
\nOlympics in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
It is no surprise when one learns what his background is.
\nAlthough all the dancers are aboriginal descendants, Munyarryun
\nis the only one who was brought up in the traditional aboriginal
\nenvironment in North Australia, said Jan Irvine, the Theater's
\ngeneral manager.<\/p>\n
Following Munyarryun's Ochres Spirit part was Yellow, a color
\nassociated with women.<\/p>\n
It started in a haunting, depressing mood. With the chant of
\naboriginal women, four women crawled in desperation.... until the
\nrain came.<\/p>\n
They embraced the water source and bath in gestures, almost
\nimitating the Orches Spirit's body painting. The women also
\nraised one of their arms and \"covered\" it with the water.<\/p>\n
The women might have symbolized the earth itself. After the
\nrain and the bath, they regained their spirit. They danced on
\ntheir feet, in a free and dynamic manner.<\/p>\n
Black, on the other hand, was the celebration of manhood. It
\nwas reflected by hunting and the warlike scenes.<\/p>\n
It started with Munyarryun hunting his quarry with a long
\nspear, hunting. But before long his hunted objects turned into
\nfighters. The four male dancers, dressed in black and equipped
\nwith swords, engaged in mock battles.<\/p>\n
The emotion was rather tense, even when they were not
\nconfronting each other. The men stamped their feet and raised
\ntheir heads in a challenging stance.<\/p>\n
While Yellow and Black explored the relationships among males
\nand females, Red focused on the sometimes painful relationships
\nbetween males and females.<\/p>\n
The first part, titled Youth, featured the immaturity of the
\nrelationship that often exists between males and females. The
\ndancers reflected the senses of naughtiness and playfulness. The
\ntwo girls kept teasing the boy by taking his shirt away.<\/p>\n
The second part, Obsession, reflected a more serious
\nrelationship. The man and the woman, dressed in red, were hardly
\nseparated.<\/p>\n
Even when they were not embracing each other, they would hold
\non to the man's shirt that served as a link between them.<\/p>\n
Poison underscored the effects of human-made customs and laws
\non a relationship. A man and a woman made identical movements.
\nThey approached each other as if they were curious about each
\nother. However, an invisible barrier between them, which could
\nhave been customs or laws, always prevented them from being
\ntogether. They even did not dare stare at each other, always
\navoiding each other's gaze.<\/p>\n
Nursing and care in humans' life were reflected in Pain. Here
\nOchres emphasized a woman's traditional role as the caretaker of
\nthe sick, in this case, a man.<\/p>\n
The sick man kept covering his face with his shirt, enduring
\nhis pain. The woman, meanwhile, soothed him. At one point, the
\nwoman helped the man take off his shirt, presumably he was
\ngetting better. But she gave it back when the man showed gestures
\nof pain again. This time, she walked away, leaving the man
\nsitting by himself.<\/p>\n
It was interesting to see how Ochres took a pessimistic view
\nof the male-female relationship. None of the relationships end in
\nthe unity of males and females. Even in Obsession, where the man
\nand the woman are determined to be together, they end up going
\ntheir own separate ways. In Pain, the woman walked away from the
\nman, presumably because she had lost her hope.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, a chance for hope still existed in the rest of
\nthe performance. White was the reflection of births and lives at
\nthe beginning of the day.<\/p>\n
The dancers were dressed like babies in their short white
\npants.<\/p>\n
They made repetitive vertical movements. Lying on the ground,
\ntheir legs were raised, reaching up into the air. Or sometimes
\nthe men would support the women, who would stretch high above
\nthemselves. It seemed like a symbol of living and growing.<\/p>\n
However, when a thunder clap sounded, the spirits suddenly
\ndropped to the ground. It was not for long, though. The
\nappearance of the Orches Spirit from inside the earth woke them
\nup again, one by one.<\/p>\n
He returned to close the night's performance as well as to
\nstart the day's new journey.<\/p>",
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