Bandung dancers revive Wayang Wong Priangan drama

By Matdon

BANDUNG (JP): When the Bandung-based Indonesian Arts Academy (STSI)'s dance studio staged the traditional dance drama Wayang Wong Priangan last Saturday, people might have supposed that it was adapted from a similar Javanese dance. But they would have been wrong.

The Wayang Wong Priangan dance dates back to the 1830s, when dancers from the Sumedang and Cirebon kingdoms of West Java regularly staged it to honor the then Dutch ruler. At that time, the drama was normally staged in the halls of palaces and sometimes even on village streets.

When staged at the highest level, Wayang Wong Priangan dancers would wear luxurious accessories, even those made out of gold, and expensive silk costumes.

During its development, some of the Dutch brought the dancers with them to various countries on tours.

According to a researcher of Cirebon traditional dances, Iyus Rusliana, some of the Wayang Wong Priangan dancers' crowns were left behind in Chicago, the United States, and can now be seen at a museum in Chicago. However, he added, there is no information available as to when the dance drama ceased to be performed.

"According to my research, the dance stopped being staged somewhere between the 1950s ... 1960s and now," Iyus told The Jakarta Post, adding that, in short, the dance had almost died out.

As a result of their concern for the arts, Iyus and Toto Amsar Suanda, a reviver of Cirebon mask dances, felt that they had to do something to prevent the disappearance of the dance and this prompted them to conduct research into it over the last four years. Iyus has even written a 400-page dissertation focusing on Cirebon mask dances and Wayang Wong Priangan.

"The main reason why this tradition is disappearing is cultural infiltration. And this has been triggered by, among other things, the emergence of television in the 1960s showing mostly foreign culture," Iyus said.

After completing their research, Iyus and Toto established a special program on the Wayang Wong Priangan dance drama at the academy's dance department. They then went further by making plans to stage Wayang Wong Priangan performances for the public. The shows, according to the plan, are to be performed on a monthly basis.

Difficult

Difficulties in finding original Wayang Wong Priangan scripts forced Iyus, who also acted as the director of Saturday's performance, to write the script himself without violating the dance drama's original plot.

The performance, titled Srikandi Mustakaweni, told the story of Mustakaweni, who plotted to snatch the Layang Jamus Kalimusada heirloom from Dewi Drupadi in an effort to destroy the Amarta kingdom. Many attempts were made in vain until eventually Mustakaweni disguised himself as Gatotkaca and succeeded in stealing the heirloom.

Mustakaweni's ruse caused chaos in the kingdom and could have led to a civil war. At that time, Srikandi in the role of Yudharini Tameng Nagara Amarta (Amarta's great warrior) saved the day and captured Mustakaweni.

The entire performance ran smoothly. Unfortunately, the dialog was flat, unlike in the Javanese version.

"We can understand that. There are not many (dancers) who are able to grasp its dramatic spirit because the dance disappeared years ago," Iyus said.