Acehnese artists promote peace through art show

JAKARTA (JP): Once upon a time there was a tukang ceritra (storyteller) in Aceh. He traveled from village to village, one town to another just to earn money by entertaining people with folklore.

One day, the tukang ceritra could no longer tell stories because every place he went to had turned into ghost towns.

"Darangdangdang dungdung ... Villages were empty. People were afraid to come out of their houses. They were all hiding..ing..ing.. Durungdungdung," traditional Aceh storyteller, Agus Nur Amal, cited in his 15-minute performance at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta in Central Jakarta, on Monday.

The storyteller, Agus continued, finally stayed home but later on, he decided to travel again, telling stories.

"But as he came out of his house, (Agus grabbed a half-meter red wooden stick, pretending it was a steering wheel), bbbrrrrmmm ... a tukang ojek (motorcycle taxi driver) rode around the village, warning people that enemies were coming," said the Jakarta Art Institute (IKJ) graduate.

"Instead of meeting people, the tukang ceritra faced this," Agus said, holding a military helmet.

And that was how the story ended.

Agus -- an entertaining storyteller who can bring up a story reflecting the recent situation in a conflict area by using simple props such as a stick and the helmet -- was among Acehnese artists from the Sanggar Aceh Menari group. The group staged on Monday Atjeh: Meunari, bermusik dan berceritra (Aceh: Dancing, playing music and storytelling) at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta.

Established about a year ago, the group's members are Acehnese dancers or music groups living in both Jakarta and Aceh.

The purpose in setting up the group, according to Agus, was to show that despite the problems experienced in the province, its traditional arts still exist.

"We want to promote peace through art," Agus said.

Monday's show was also aimed at reviving the original Aceh dance.

Choreographer Asnawi Abdullah said that Aceh traditional dances were going the wrong way.

"The development of the dances is going in the wrong direction. For example, the seudati dance appears in TV commercial, and some said that the dance is aimed at promoting health," Asnawi said.

Actually, Asnawi said, the dance is a medium to spread Islam.

The province is indeed known as "the verandah of Mecca" due to the strong influence of Islam. The influence clearly shows in its traditional songs whose words are taken from the Holy Koran.

"Seudati is a powerful preaching medium. It also describes spirit, democracy, courage and also promotes friendship," Asnawi said.

The dance was performed on Monday by nine male dancers -- all clad in white long pants and shirts, along with traditional Acehnese red hats -- except for the singer who was dressed all in black.

Accompanied only by the singer's songs and sounds of the dancers' clicking fingers and slapping of their bellies, the dancers moved dynamically -- a trademark of Aceh dances.

Beside seudati, there was also rappai geleng musical dances, where 12 men sit in a row, headbanging (the original heavymetal headbanging?), clapping, dancing, singing and together beating traditional tambourines called rappai.

"Hopefully, a show like this can be performed regularly," Asnawi said. (hdn)