Bandung dancers revive Wayang Wong Priangan drama

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.