Traditional performances find place in changing times<\/p>\n
By Prapti Widinugraheni and I. Christianto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It is dinner time. A couple of Balinese dancers
\nprance energetically onstage to the sound of lively traditional
\nmusic. Foreign guests watch the show from their tables and move
\nin closer to snap pictures with their pocket cameras.<\/p>\n
This could be Bali, where dance performances are common
\nattractions for tourists at many star-rated hotels and
\nrestaurants.<\/p>\n
Yet the scene was in Jakarta, a city whose residents are
\nsupposedly so affected by the hustle and bustle of
\n"modernization", "globalization" and everything else that
\ndisplaces the fragile and traditional.<\/p>\n
Jakarta, it turns out, still has its gentle side.<\/p>\n
Look no further than Raden Kuring restaurant, the site of the
\ndance performance. Instead of hiring a jazz band or a foreign
\nsinging group to entertain guests, it keeps traditional
\nperformances going, even if it's purely for the sake of
\nattracting foreign tourists.<\/p>\n
The restaurant operation manager, Soekardi, said the
\nrestaurant never intended to "go traditional" when it opened for
\nbusiness in 1986. The idea came from an employee.<\/p>\n
"To my surprise, the employee said she could dance and was
\nwilling to perform," he said.<\/p>\n
Raden Kuring began staging regular traditional dances and more
\nemployees became involved.<\/p>\n
"In 1988, we started cooperating with several dance groups to
\nmake things more professional," he said.<\/p>\n
The winner of last year's Adikarya Wisata tourism award now
\nhas two hour-long traditional dance performances every day. The
\ndances originate from West Java, Central Java, Bali, Sumatra and
\nJakarta (Betawi).<\/p>\n
He acknowledged the restaurant was unable to offer live
\ntraditional music because of limited funds.<\/p>\n
"I believe what we are doing can still help preserve the
\ncountry's traditions," he said.<\/p>\n
Another place in Jakarta contributing to preserve the national
\nheritage, albeit in quite a different way, is Hailai
\nInternational Executive Club in Ancol, North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Traditional dances at this club are performed as opening acts
\nfor foreign pop entertainers.<\/p>\n
Hailai's stage manager G. Aditya said his restaurant presented
\nfour traditional dances daily. The performances start at 8:05
\np.m. and last 25 minutes.<\/p>\n
The major entertainment lasts a full two hours. How do the two
\ncompare in cost and value?<\/p>\n
Soeriatno Santoso, the club's director of operations, said a
\nlocal group was usually paid Rp 400,000 (US$163) per day while a
\nforeign singer got an average of $250 per show.<\/p>\n
Yet there are still many niches for traditional entertainment.<\/p>\n
Sampan Bujana Sentra, for example, is a place where people can
\nget "something different", according to dancer and choreographer
\nSampan Hismanto.<\/p>\n
His restaurant offers live traditional performances and music
\nplayed entirely by his employees.<\/p>\n
"I hire 40 personnel, each of whom can perform traditional
\ndances and play traditional musical instruments," he said.
\nSampan Bujana Sentra is open daily, except Sundays, with a 90-
\nminute traditional performance starting at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
"My major market is mostly foreign tourists. These are the
\nthings they are looking for," he said.<\/p>\n
"But I would be more grateful if Indonesians also come here so
\nthey can understand more about their own culture and art."<\/p>\n
Restaurants and other tourist spots are not along in the
\nstruggle to remind Indonesians of their national heritage.<\/p>\n
Several television stations, such as Televisi Pendidikan
\nIndonesia (TPI) and Indosiar, are also doing their part.<\/p>\n
Theresia Ella Sari, TPI public relations manager, said the
\nstation aired traditional performing arts shows as it was
\n"committed to prioritizing local products, including traditional
\narts".<\/p>\n
The audience rating is low -- about 2 according to Survey
\nResearch Indonesia (SRI) -- and revenues from advertisers are in
\ngeneral insignificant, but TPI intends to go on with the show.<\/p>\n
"There are times when programs shouldn't be created merely for
\nthe sake of commercial profitability, but for idealism as well,"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
Popularity<\/p>\n
She added that the popularity of traditional performing arts
\nshould not be underestimated despite the SRI ratings, which apply
\nonly to the major cities of Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya
\nand Medan.<\/p>\n
The reason TPI's wayang (leather puppet performances or
\ntraditional plays) programs were aired late at night was not
\nbecause of unpopularity, she added.<\/p>\n
"Live wayang plays, and many other traditional performances,
\nin their original village setting only start late at night and
\nend at dawn. So we don't want our audience to feel shocked or
\ndisturbed by airing such shows earlier in the day," she said.<\/p>\n
The actual fans of TPI's traditional performances, most of
\nwhom are not covered in SRI ratings, are very enthusiastic, she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
"Once, when our wayang show was not shown, we got hundreds of
\nphone calls from all over the country asking about it."<\/p>\n
Ella said TPI was almost likely to continue airing location
\nrecordings of performing arts because it was about three times
\nless expensive than having traditional groups come to TPI's
\nstudio.<\/p>\n
"We once tried studio shooting for such programs, but it was
\ntoo expensive and advertisers weren't interested," she said.<\/p>\n
"But if we discovered a good, reliable studio format (for
\nthis) plus the appropriate financial support, we'd choose the
\nstudio format."<\/p>\n
Indosiar is another TV station whose proportion of traditional
\nperformances make up about 5 percent of a day's programs,
\ncomparatively large in proportion to the three other private TV
\nstations.<\/p>\n
The station, unlike TPI, has no plans to studio-record
\ntraditional programs.<\/p>\n
Indosiar public relations manager Andreas Ambesa said the
\nstation would never consider the studio format, "because our
\naudience prefers on location recordings". He added that it was
\nalso a lot cheaper.<\/p>\n
The airing of traditional performing arts programs on Indosiar
\nstarted as a purely non-profit project, he said.<\/p>\n
"When Indosiar first went on air in 1995, it decided not to
\nmake segmentations of its audience," he said. "This means it was
\ncommitted to making sure that everyone -- be it lovers of
\nHollywood films, soap operas, music shows and traditional
\nperformances -- could enjoy the station's programs."<\/p>\n
The station's debut with traditional shows started on Aug. 17,
\n1995 when it aired a full 24 hours of wayang kulit shows.<\/p>\n
"It turned out that the audience gave a very positive
\nresponse, which we learned from the telephone calls and letters
\nwe received later on," he said.<\/p>\n
Like TPI, Indosiar is circumspect about the SRI ratings, which
\ngive the programs ratings between 0 and 2.<\/p>\n
"Our audience for these programs is in small towns and
\ncities," he said.<\/p>\n
"They're definitely not profitable programs, but over the
\nyears advertisers have become increasingly interested because
\nthey know that many high-ranking government officials like them."<\/p>\n
One exception to the low profitability is Srimulat, a program
\naired every Thursday night, which is popular in SRI-covered
\ncities with a rating of 12.<\/p>\n
"Indosiar has managed to make the Srimulat cast very popular.
\nNow they are asked to perform at various events," he said.<\/p>",
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