Children take part in making TV drama
JAKARTA (JP): A session of a Children's Art Festival on Saturday took youngsters behind the scenes of a television drama.
The children, who were asked to act in a short scene, got some idea of the need for dozens of "takes," "cuts" and frantic coaching from all sides.
It was a first-time experience for the children.
The turnout of children was small, with adults dominating the workshop. Those involved were mainly children already active in a nearby theater group.
"We hope to make the children interested," Chaerul Umam, a noted director, said at the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center.
The three-day Festival, opened on Friday by Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, expected more visitors yesterday, the final day.
Chaerul, also one of the organizers of the festival held by the Jakarta Arts Council, said to his knowledge, children here have never been exposed to such a workshop.
Maybe one or two of the children may extend their interest seriously into adulthood, Chaerul said.
A storyteller invited to work with the children, WeEs Ibnoe Say -- popularly known as Kak Wes -- said the program was important, as children here have only seen the finished product.
The session included showing children a little of the editing process before they saw the final result on screen.
Other parts of the festival included a workshop on dance by Ina M. Suryadewi, an instructor at the Jakarta Arts Institute, and poetry reciting by Sutarji Calzoum Bachri.
Ina told The Jakarta Post the workshop aimed to introduce a new method of teaching dance to children, which encourages participants to create their own movements.
The workshops were mostly limited to children from a few groups or certain schools, which were meant to motivate outsiders.
Later in the afternoon, more children turned up to see the dances and musical performances held by the Festival.
Yesterday's scheduled events included a musical workshop with noted harp player Heidy Awuy, a dialog with theater and screen actor Didi Petet, and more theater, music and dance performances. (anr)