Collaborative show celebrates simplicity

Murdani Usman, Contributor, Denpasar

Hilarious and refreshing for the mind. Those words perfectly describe the atmosphere during the collaboration show presented by local and international artists celebrating the Denpasar-based Indonesia Arts Institute's 35th anniversary.

During the show, the artists combined music, theater and dance into fresh and communicative entertainment, easily enjoyed by the audience.

The show was performed by Les Fire Warriors group with Indonesian dancer Didik Ninik Towok alongside French and Mongolian artists Caroline Obin, Bulko and Baska Jargal last week.

Based on body language and sound to convey the story to the audience, the show was easily grasped by those who were familiar with local theater groups like Srimulat or Ketoprak Humor despite the absence of formal dialog.

The artists, however, did not make dumb movements just to incite laughs. Instead, each of them responded to music dominated by drums, percussions and other musical instruments while continuing to perform their roles in the show, which was prepared in a relatively short time.

The supple and humorous Didik Ninik Towok stood out throughout the performance, often creating ripples of laughter and applause from the audience. The French artist portraying a clown also deserves credit for his method of communicating hunger, shouting in his French accent, "Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice)" and "Babi Guling (Grilled Pork)".

The show also used simple things, like a plastic bag, which was swept, blown about, kicked and even eaten, as if to convey the message, "keep things clean", or "when hungry, I'll eat everything".