Artists come together to share, learn
By Asip A. Hasani
SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): A long-haired old man moved to the center of the arena, swaying to the rhythm of African and Sundanese drums.
He moved freely, although he was clearly conscious of what he was doing. His rhythm was staggered, alternately fast or slow.
Suddenly he stopped, taking a cross-legged position and humming tunes seemingly from the Dayaks or tribes in Irian Jaya. Then he switched to the Javanese songs usually sung with gamelan performances.
Disjointed? Strange? Not at all. His transition was so fluid that the audience was enthralled. A younger dancer also moved around him, holding burning bamboo torches in each hand.
The older man was Suprapto Suryodarmo, a dancer from Surakarta who is probably better known in Europe than in his own country. Suprapto's dancing style is usually called "meditation movement", a term which he himself does not find appropriate. The second dancer was Daryono, a dancing teacher at the Surakarta Indonesian Arts Higher Learning Institute (STSI). The accompanying music was played by I Wayan Sadre, a contemporary musician, and his colleagues.
The performance in early January was part of an international series of events, Sharing Art and Shadow, held at the Lemah Putih Dance rehearsal area and dormitory owned by Suprapto in Plesungan, a village about seven kilometers north of Surakarta.
The opening ceremony was attended by a number of noted figures in Indonesian arts, like famous poet WS Rendra and head of the Surakarta Cultural Center (TBS) Murtidjono. Some 40 artists participated in the events, including five foreigners: a contemporary fine artist Jamie Jewett of the United States, American dancer Diana Butler, German visual artist Kirsten Funke, Canadian painter Deborah Nolan and German installation artist Klaus.
Most participants were young artists, such as dancer-cum- choreographer Jarot B. Darsono and poet Sosiawan Leak of Surakarta, dancer Bimo Wiwohatmo and painter Samuel Indratma of Yogyakarta, dancer Suryani Rasyid of Makassar. Others came from Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang and Klaten.
For five days at a stretch, there were at least 20 dancing, theatrical and installation performances.
Suprapto said that these events were not the same as a festival as in a festival it was demanded that each participant should do their best. He said that these events would only serve to bring together the participating artists so that they could learn from one another and appreciate each other's works.
"We are organizing these events to allow anybody imbued with enthusiasm and joy to create something and learn from one another," he told The Jakarta Post.
"In a festival, an artist's spontaneous creativity usually gets stuck because he or she finds himself or herself in a competitive atmosphere or at least feels burdened with an obligation to create the best work."
Art, he noted, must be placed in the perspective of the relationship between man and God and nature so that it will also have its ritual dimension and serve as a vehicle with which a human development process will take place.
Audience numbers were small, but the shows went on, from humorous renditions of shadow puppets to snake dancers.
"We, young artists, welcome events like these and will use our fresh ideas in organizing similar programs in future," said one of the participants, Titus, a member of Gidak Gidik Theater from Surakarta.