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