Dance company makes its way to the Netherlands

Dance company makes its way to the Netherlands

Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta

When Deddy Luthan's Dance Company (DDC) left Jakarta for the
Netherlands on Thursday, Feb. 28, to perform a contemporary
Javanese dance piece titled Kunti Pinilih (Kunti, the Chosen One)
at the prestigious Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam on March 5 and
March 6, they left with an uneasy feeling.

The troupe left at the invitation of Robert van den Bos
(Anmaro Asia Arts) and director of Het Muziektheater Pieter
Hofman. "Pray that nothing happens to us," Deddy Luthan, DDC's
artistic director, said through his cellphone, minutes before the
27-member troupe, comprising dancers, singers of traditional
Javanese songs and the crew, departed.

The reason for their uneasiness was the absence of
clarification from the foreign ministry over the allegation made
by Indonesia's envoy in Holland that the group's show would be
part of the 400th anniversary celebrations of the establishment
of the Dutch East Indies Trading Company (VOC), once the strong
arm of Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia.

The troupe went to the Netherlands on the basis of faxed
copies of a letter from Robert van den Bos addressed to State
Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gede Ardika and another from
Pieter Hofman addressed to Indonesia's envoy in The Hague. Both
were dated Feb. 20, confirming the show had nothing to do with
the commemoration of the VOC.

It was Robert van den Bos who asked the then chairperson of
the Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (GKJ)'s board of management, Farida
Oetoyo, late last year, about inviting a Javanese dance troupe to
perform in his country. After being given a list of names, DDC's
Kunti Pinilih was chosen. The rehearsal for the show itself
started early in January this year.

Kunti Pinilih is a new dance deliberately created for the show
in the Netherlands with a certain political message. It will be
the company's sixth performance.

Choreographed by Elly D. Luthan and B. Subono before the fall
of the New Order regime, it took two years to prepare, the dance
was staged for the first time at GKJ in 1997 with Prof. Dr. Edi
Sedyawati, then director general of culture, as the main dancer.
In its next shows, Edi was replaced by Elly.

The two-hour show was brought to the stage of the GKJ on Feb.
26, two days before leaving for Holland. It was preceded by
Srimpi Sangupati dance, the creation of Pakubuwono IV, which was
turned by Elly into a dance to welcome guests.

The show at GKJ differed from its four earlier performances.
Leather puppets were added. This fresh touch did not only work as
an accessory, it refreshed the puppet master, B. Subono, enough
to suitably use the scene to depict the fight between punakawan
(the palace jokers) Petruk, Gareng and Bagong to humor the
audience.

Elly also put her new interpretation of the ancient Mahabarata
epic into this creation. Art lover Iwan Tirta found the new
interpretation suited the present situation as it shows how, in
educating children, parents (here represented by Kunti) often
have to clash with the influence of society (represented by
Kresna who rebukes Harjuna for his laziness to fight against
Karna, who is none other than his own brother).

"I agree with (dancer) Mas Sulistyo, the show does not tell
much about Kunti. I simply want to present Kunti embroiled in a
mental war of how to treat all her children. As a mother, she has
raised her children but, unfortunately, the environment is more
dominant," said Elly.

By mastering various classical dances, from Java to Aceh,
Elly, who has created many dance pieces by blending traditional
and contemporary approaches to create Kunti based on bedaya and
langendriyan dances, and kanjet, a traditional dance element from
Kalimantan.

As many as 19 traditional Javanese songs composed by B. Subono
accompanied Kunti with the support of a traditional Javanese
music group from Surakarta's Indonesia Arts Institute.

The dancers include well-known names such as Sulistiyo
Tirtokusumo (who impressively assumes the role of Harjuna), Djoko
SS (who performs well as Kresna), Wasi Bantolo (performing nicely
as Karna) and Dewi Sulastri (performing well as the young Kunti).

One thing that Deddy found it difficult to understand was why
Kunti Pinilih, inspite of DDC's other productions like Abad
(Century), Perahu Yang Robek (Torn Boat), always lead to problems
both on and off the stage.

For Kunti's first show, he had to sell his favorite car
because the crisis had forced the sponsor to back down.

And now, prior to their departure to the Netherlands, they had
not received official clarification on whether they could peform.
What's more, when art groups used to be invited to perform
abroad, they were usually freed from paying departure tax. But
now, they don't even enjoy this facility. Given all these
obstacles it was sheer determination and will power that got them
to the Netherlands anyway.