Boi showcases his most acclaimed dance pieces

Boi showcases his most acclaimed dance pieces

Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta

When he was in his teens, Boi G. Sakti was often involved in
street brawls in his home town of Batusangkar, West Sumatra, and
frequently forced people at traffic lights to give him money.

Today, Boi, 35, the son of the late noted dance choreographer
Gusmiati Suid, is one of Indonesia's most important
choreographers. Born as Yandi Yasin, Boi is now popular both at
home and abroad.

A graduate of the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ), Boi presented
his first work Pitaruah at an All-Indonesia Choreography Contest
at Ismail Marzuki Park (TIM) in 1987. Now with over 100 dance
creations to his credit, Boi is internationally acclaimed.

Between April 24 and April 27, 10 of his choreographed works
are being performed at Graha Bhakti Budaya, TIM in Dance My
Indonesia - Boi G Sakti: Parade of Golden Works of Boi G. Sakti
(1989 - 2001). These dances are performed by 13 of his best
dancers: six male dancers (Jefri, Benny, David, Jacko, Mislam and
Yanto) and seven women dancers (Eti, Vera, Grace, Dela, Leta and
the twins - Devi Indri and Devi Sus). Three assistants have aided
him in this event: Hartarti (his wife), Benny and David. The
music is entrusted to Epi Martison, M. Halim and Piter Slayan,
while lighting is in the hands of Sonny Sumarsono.

On the first night, before an audience of about 400 people,
Boi chose Batagak (1989), which he has performed before at a
festival at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (GKJ) and later in Hong Kong,
to start the evening's program and four-day parade.

Then came Amai-amai (1992), a dance piece that has been
performed before in Jakarta (GKJ), Bandung, Surakarta, Yogyakarta
and Hong Kong. After a 15-minute intermission, the program
continued with Shalawat (1996), which was previously staged in
Jakarta, Berlin, Switzerland and Singapore (at the opening of the
Singapore Arts Festival in 1997). The final piece was Warih
(1997), which has been performed before at GKJ and in Singapore.

In Batagak -- performed by three male dancers and three women
dancers -- Boi began with a scene of mourning beside a corpse.
This is then transformed into images of the emergence of a new
figure and new hope, as found in the "renewal through struggle"
philosophy.

Unlike his debut performance, in which Boi danced himself, in
this piece, Boi, as a choreographer, shows his maturity, along
with the maturity demonstrated by his dancers in conveying his
message through dance styled upon the Minang martial art.

Maturity can also be sensed in his three other works, Amai-
amai,Shalawat and Warih. When these pieces were first performed,
they focused on the physical, while the current performance
appears significantly more contemplative.

This change can only be fully appreciated by those who have
seen earlier performances of these pieces, which made the
audience lose their breath because they were presented at such a
high tempo with attractive but less stylized movements.

It is here that a choreographer (and also director) is luckier
than a painter. A painter's work remains the same no matter how
many times they are exhibited. Perhaps only the frames are
different. On the other hand, when a choreographer wishes to
perform his works again, he is free to make changes to suit the
differing circumstances.

Boi admitted he had changed the opening of Amai-amai,Shalawat
and Warih because he realized the opening of these three pieces
resembled that of Batagak.

He added he had also made changes to the costumes.

The second night demonstrates Boi's experimentation with
contemporary dance, influenced by the Minang tradition. The dance
pieces were titled Puisi Cinta (Love Poem, 1992), Dongeng Yang
Berlari (A Tale that Runs, 1992) and Abad Adab Nan Sakit (1993).

Sitinur Bahaya (1994), scheduled for Friday night, will be
accompanied by live music. Previously, the musical accompaniment
came from a programmed synthesizer. He said these changes were
necessary to ensure greater appeal. This piece explores women's
hunger: Hunger for a house, hunger for rice and hunger for
freedom.

On the final evening, large-scale changes will be introduced
to pieces with English titles: The Lost Space (1999) and Before
the Coming of The Dark (2001). Originally, these two pieces were
created in Singapore and Manila and performed with foreign
dancers. Today, the dancers come from Gumarang Sakti.

This Rp 160-million parade has been financed by the management
of TIM. As he found it difficult to find a financial sponsor, Boi
almost abandoned the dance profession in 1995. Luckily, some
overseas institutions were ready to fund him, a reason why Boi's
shows are more often performed abroad than at home.

After this parade, Boi will be making preparations for the
Berlin Festival and for a show in Copenhagen this June. So, we
are lucky to be able to watch this dance parade, a testimony of
Boi's development from a street hoodlum to dancer and
choreographer.

Boi G. Sakti: Parade Karya Emas 1989-2001 in Graha Bhakti
Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki, from April 24 to April 27 at 8 p.m.
For ticket reservations tel: 337325, 3154087. e-mail:
tim@jkt.mega.net.id