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.