Choreographer Boi looks back on career

Choreographer Boi looks back on career

Helly Minarti, Contributor, Jakarta

Part of the theme celebration of Menarilah Indonesia (Dance
Indonesia) launched at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) in Central
Jakarta, is the four-night performance of Boi G. Sakti, 35, now
the artistic director of Gumarang Sakti dance company.

Boi took over the helm after his mother, well-known
choreographer Gusmiati Suid, passed away last September. This
time Boi will reconstruct an ensemble of old and new dance pieces
he has created since 1989.

Instead of chronicling his own work in a time cycle, Boi
cleverly divides the series into four dancing themes as if
putting the pieces into a chronology based on dancing styles that
in turn will show the audience his artistic journey.

The first night will highlight those works very much
influenced by the Minang martial arts tradition, silek -- the
trademark of the company. Four choreographed pieces -- each
standing strong in its own way -- are carefully selected.

Batagak (1989) is among the pieces that propelled Boi to the
status of modern-dance ingenious during his college years at the
Jakarta Arts Institute. The movement in this dance piece
originates from belabek (bunga silek) and takes its root in ulu
ampe (a fine silek at its core that hints an invisible duel).
Batagak has been performed in various festivals in and outside
Indonesia since its premiere.

Amai-amai (1992) is the piece that drew more attention to
Boi's artistry and in a way cemented his early fixation on
women's issues in his choreography. Inspired by morning activity
in the all-female traditional market deep in West Sumatra, Boi
nicely captures the dynamic through witty gestures and stylistic
movement -- complete with inspiring lighting that illustrates the
dawn accompanied by live Minang music.

Salawat (1996) and Warih (1997) represent the Muslim influence
embedded in Minang traditional arts, by exploring Minang culture
earlier introduced by his predecessors such as Hoeriah Adam and
his mother Gusmiati. The music is an important element that can
be traced back to the traditional form of shalawat (song of
praises).

The four dance pieces on the second night appear to be Boi's
experiments with contemporary dance, sometimes through shocking
and intriguing acts such as when a male dancer holds a female
breast. Dancing steps and styles of Puisi Cinta (Love Poem,
1992), Dongeng Yang Berlari (A Tale that Runs, 1992) and Abad
Adab Nan Sakit (1993) might seem detached from Minang tradition,
but it's certainly not a departure from it. Be it underneath or
understated, the Minang element sneaks through his twisted
interpretation of local legends and folktales.

In Dongeng Yang Berlari, Boi is actually requestioning the
legendary Malin Kundang, a famous folktale character of Minang
oral literature, about a prodigal son who returns to his village
after achieving success refusing to acknowledge his own roots and
pretends not to recognize his own mother. He asked the dancers to
run at high speed until they hit a wall and fall. "These days,
parents can be prodigal too to their children," he often
comments.

When it was first shown, people familiar with his earlier
style were shocked as they found it hard to trace any Minang
element in its choreography, not even the signature music.
"Tradition can emerge in any form in my work, I'm not so
conscious of expressing it in my dance. It'll be eventually
carried in the work, I don't have to impose it," explained Boi.

The third night presents a full-length work, Siti Nur Bahaya
(1994), marking Boi's continuous passion in communicating women's
issues on stage. "I remember I saw the gap between the feminist
movement in society and women's own understanding of it. It
seemed that despite the progress most women had achieved or liked
to achieve, they got confused and failed to handle changes."

And to close the series are not only the two most recent works
Boi has managed to cut, but interestingly, they have never really
been performed for an Indonesian audience.

The Lost Space (1999) he created for Singapore Dance Theater
(SDT) and it premiered in the lion city by SDT dancers. It bears
some similarity to Menggantang Asap (Measure Out Quarts of Smoke)
choreography where he assisted his mother in a collaboration with
German Joachim Schloemmer in 1999.

"I took two scenes I made and reworked the whole thing," said
Boi. The dance turned out differently because the SDT troupe's
dancers were trained for ballet.

"I can understand that it was hard for them to realize my
ideas on stage because they have to dance against their own
training, and that's really hard," said Boi commenting on
criticism of the performance.

The last of the batch, Before Coming of the Dark (2001) is the
work he specially created for Ballet Philippines last year.

"Their dancers are marvelous. They're the closest I can get so
far abroad to dance my pieces. They have got the technique and
the speed it requires, but of course it takes more time to get
the raso -- Minang word for flair -- to their movement. I only
taught them for one month, and it's not enough to internalize the
philosophy behind it."

Now, both these pieces will be performed by Gumarang Sakti
dancers, accompanied by live music.

Off stage, rehearsing ten choreographed pieces can be very
daunting not only for the dancers but also for Boi though he has
to reconstruct his previous work. He relies solely on the video
documentation because he avoids dance notation.

He has assistance from Hartati, his wife, a former dancer and
now choreographer, Davit Doank and Benny Krisnawardi -- the two
principal male dancers. The trio had danced most of the work in
the past.

"It's really challenging and can be exhausting as well,"
confessed Hartati. "I don't like notating my dance. For me, the
work is new every time it is staged. I do proper changes along
the way, such as the lighting or blocking or other staging
aspects," said Boi.

As always, Gumarang Sakti keeps the dancers in their
headquarters in Depok on the outskirt of Jakarta for most of the
week to rehearse. The "training center" -- as they call it --
houses all the dancers and musicians who live there and
discipline themselves to three training sessions a day with a
weekend break.

Some dancers from other companies took the challenges to join
and drill themselves in mastering the 10 choreographies in just
less than a month. It sounds like an impossible task -- but it's
not unusual for Boi -- who won the prestigious Bessies Awards
with his mother for the best performing arts in New York -- to
ask more from his dancers. The result of their effort can be seen
this week.

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 reservation call: 337325, 3154087. E-mail:
tim@jkt.mega.net.id