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.