'Barongsai' dance enjoys a revival

'Barongsai' dance enjoys a revival

By Ida Indawati Khouw

JAKARTA (JP): Residents of Taman Harapan Indah housing complex
in North Jakarta have been used to the deafening sound of drums,
gongs, cymbals and other musical instruments blaring from a
nearby tennis court where a group of people rehearse Barongsai
(lion) dance.

Unlike during the period of Soeharto's authoritarian New Order
government that crumbled in 1998, the security authorities now
seem to turn a deaf ear to the noise.

So the dancers can rehearse without fear of police action
every Monday and Thursday night at the tennis court. Nobody in
the area have raised objections either.

Barongsai was part of the Chinese cultural shows that Soeharto
banned as part his government's policy to suppress anti-Chinese
sentiments from publicly breaking out. Then anyone could be
jailed for performing Chinese culture.

Surya Tonowidjaja, leader of Tunas Jaya Barongsai dance group,
recalled how his colleague was arrested due to performing the
lion and Liong (dragon) dances in 1988.

"At that time the troupe performed the attraction at a ritual
in a Chinese temple in Tangerang (just west of Jakarta) after
getting a permit from the local authority. The leader was
arrested only because the tail of the 'dragon' poked out of the
temple's fence," Surya said.

In other incidents, properties where dances took place were
confiscated and burned down. While costumes and equipment which
could be saved were hidden in temples.

Despite the ban, the Chinese community in Indonesia had done
everything to preserve their ancestors' cultural heritage.
Barongsai troupes secretly rehearsed inside temples or outside
town, like members of Tunas Jaya group.

"We went to remote areas like Sewan (in Tangerang, about 40
kilometers west of Jakarta) to train," said Surya.

Sewan is a small hamlet well-known as a Chinese Indonesian
enclave in Tangerang.

A senior Barongsai dancer, Ronald Sjarif said his group never
rehearsed following the ban because all the dance equipment had
been confiscated by the security authorities.

"We once had a performance for a charity during the (former
president) Soeharto era. We performed without rehearsal as we did
not dare to do so," Ronald said.

He recounted that during the Soeharto period, wealthy Chinese
had to go as far as Singapore or Hong Kong to see Barongsai.

When the fall of Soeharto brought with it freedom of
expression, Barongsai groups came out of the dark. They danced
like professionals although they had not performed for a great
many years. So where and how did they practice it?

Some Barongsai dancers started to gather when the political
climate became conducive for Chinese culture to reappear. Many
young Chinese were trained in dance so that they would not lose
touch with their ancestral culture.

The Barongsai dance's revival started to gain momentum in the
1999 election campaign, when big political parties like the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the Golkar Party and the
National Awakening Party staged it as part of their efforts to
attract crowds and win sympathy from the Chinese minority group.

More and more Barongsai traditional dance groups have emerged
since then and they now number about 30 groups in Greater Jakarta
alone, according to Surya.

Interestingly, most of the dancers are young people aged
between 8 and 20 years old, something which may reflect how quick
the regeneration process has been.

"Actually, it's not so difficult to teach them the Barongsai
dance so long as they master wushu (Chinese martial arts). There
are many wushu groups here because the sport is not banned.

"The basic movement of the barongsai dance is wushu," said
Surya, who now trains 30 Barongsai dancers.

According to Ronald, young people are quicker in mastering the
art. "They can now learn the movement from VCDs and I think it is
because they have better nutrition than older generations," he
said.

It takes about four months to train youths to become good
dancers.

Ronald sent his Barongsai troupe, Kong Ha Hong, which
represented Indonesia, to take part in an international Barongsai
dance championship in Hong Kong from Jan. 4 to Jan. 6. Kong Ha
Hong won 12th place out of the 18 participants.

"It's not a great achievement. But we did better than
Singapore," he said.

Ronald proposed to the committee of the international
Barongsai dance championship that next year's event be held in
Indonesia.

Barongsai dance groups have been very busy performing in
connection with the Chinese New Year, on Jan. 24 but celebrations
go on for a further two weeks. A troupe asks for between Rp 1
million and Rp 3 million for each show.