Classical 'Arja' given contemporary touch

Classical 'Arja' given contemporary touch

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post/Singapadu

It all started on a sleepy afternoon around a month ago when
Prof. Dr. I Wayan Dibia, a respected scholar and accomplished
choreographer, decided to spend his free afternoon reading a
short story titled Katemu Ring Tampaksiring (An Encounter at
Tampaksiring).

The story was penned by Made Sanggra, a hermetical yet widely
respected figure in Balinese literary circles. The trilingual
(Balinese, Bahasa and English) edition of this
78-year-old author's collection of short stories was published in
June 2004 by the Bali Anyar foundation. Apparently, one copy
made its way into Dibia's hands.

"The story touched me in a way that I had never before
experienced. It conveys that indescribable feeling of
tranquility. The tone (of the story) is both romantic and
peaceful and it continued to haunt me. From the moment I finished
reading it, I knew that I must transform it into a performance,"
Dibia said.

The story is about a Dutch journalist, Van Steffen, who
visited post-independence Bali as a part of Queen Juliana's
entourage. Staying in the idyllic village of Tampaksiring, Van
Steffen soon fell in love with a local Balinese girl, Ni Luh Rai.

It was an ill-fated romance, though, because, as the story
unfolds, Van Steffen learns that Rai is his sister. It turns out
that Rai's mother Ni Luh Kompyang had an amorous relationship
with a Dutch colonial officer during the Indonesian War of
Independence. The officer and the then three-year-old Van Steffen
were separated from Kompyang in the ensuing chaos of the war. The
story ends with the long-lost son embracing his biological mother
as tears well in their eyes.

Born into a family of artists in Singapadu, Gianyar, Dibia
mastered the skills demanded of a Balinese performer early on.
However, it was his daring escapade into the realm of modern
dance that secured his position as one of the island's most
influential choreographers. From this, one might guess that Dibia
selected modern dance as the medium to tell the story of Van
Steffen.

Instead, he chose the Balinese classical opera of Arja. "The
story narrated a series of events that took place in Bali several
decades ago. A classical dance/drama makes a better medium to
capture the spirit of that time. Moreover, Arja is essentially a
romantic and melodic opera and suited to this romantic short
story," he said." I also wanted to show my respect and adoration
for the author, I Made Sanggra, who was very fond of Arja," he
added.

Another reason was Dibia's own fixation with Arja.

According to Dibia, Arja was born and developed into its
present form in the first half of the 20th century. The first
performance of Arja -- with all male performers -- was in 1904.
In 1920, the first Arja performance involving female artists took
place in Ubud. And, in 1940, the island saw the first
performance of Arja with 11 to 12 casting known as Arja Gede.

"Several scholars place the birth of Arja at a much earlier
time, in the 18th century, citing a historical record of a royal
cremation in Klungkung kingdom. The record mentions a troupe of
artists who performed a dance/drama in conjunction with the
ceremony. However, I believe that it was Gambuh instead of Arja,"
Dibia said.

Gambuh is the oldest and most refined form of Balinese
traditional opera and draws its main plots from Panji stories,
which depict the romantic and heroic undertakings of princes and
princesses of ancient Javanese kingdoms. After Gambuh came Wayang
Wong, which was inspired mainly by stories from the Indian epic
of Ramayana. Then Arja was born, utilizing Panji stories and
Balinese folktales as its source of storylines. The youngest form
of Balinese traditional opera is Prembon, which uses Babad (
semi-historical accounts of Balinese royal courts) as its plots.

After receiving the blessing of Made Sanggra himself, Dibia
began the most difficult part of his undertaking; turning the
story into song, in line with the rigid rules and conventions of
Arja.

"For instance, traditional Arja generally has 11 to 12
characters while this Arja will only have nine. The short story
did not have an antagonist character so I had to create one to
provide the performance with stronger dramatic grounds," he said.

So obsessed was Dibia with the story that he spared no time in
composing songs for the performance.

"There were times, many times actually, when I incessantly
hummed or sung while I was driving, trying to find the right
words, the correct expressions ... I repeatedly stopped the car
to jot lyrics down in a small book that I took everywhere I
went," he recalled.

The first public performance of the Arja on Dec. 24 was
greeted by the thunderous applause of around 100 people at
Dibia's Griya Olah Kreasi Seni (GEOKS) theater in Singapadu, some
eight kilometers east of Denpasar.

For three-and-a-half hours, the audience was mesmerized by the
intricate dances and beautiful songs presented by the Arja
performers, such as Kadek Dewi Aryani (Ni Luh Rai), I Made Sidia
(Van Steffen) and I Made Suarjana (Ni Luh Kompyang).

"Dibia has succeeded, not only in rejuvenating Arja by
incorporating into it a contemporary short story, but also in
setting an example of how to popularize a modern literary piece
by means of a classical, traditional performing art form,"
praised arts patron Popo Danes.