Dancer crawls out of the dump for art summit
Dancer crawls out of the dump for art summit
JAKARTA (JP): A lot of garbage will be presented at Art Summit Indonesia 1998. However don't be mislead, in the capable hands of choreographer Miroto, the garbage flowers and becomes an object of beauty.
Miroto and his troupe will present Kembang Sampah (The Garbage Flower), their latest choreography, at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"I have had a very personal experience with garbage," Miroto once said.
His logic for making this enigmatic statement was that he was born into a society that equates social status with material achievement.
"Living in such a community was quite hard for me. I felt like I had been abandoned and thrown away by the community, like a piece of garbage," Miroto recalled.
Under these unfavorable conditions, Miroto's artistic expression and energy blossomed. The Yogyakarta-based choreographer, who started his dance career as a proficient classical Javanese dancer, studied and collaborated with both domestic and foreign artists to enrich his work.
His first dance with garbage as its central tenet, Sampah, was created in 1985 and he has continued to explore the theme ever since.
"I am so intrigued by 'garbage'," he said.
After studying his art in the United States, Miroto returned in 1995 to the dustbin to create Sampah II (Garbage II).
This piece of choreography incorporates short dances of his entitled Benang Merah 97 (Bottomline 97), Duo 97 and Enamy.
"When I was asked to perform at the Second Art Summit Indonesia l998, I decided to return to my obsession with garbage," Miroto added.
That was how Kembang Sampah came into being. The dance was created through long and meticulous observation and study of garbage.
Miroto and his dance colleagues used to frequent a dump in the Piyungan area near Gunungkidul in Yogyakarta to learn about and to understand rubbish, and to feel and to smell the heaving cesspit into which it was tossed.
"We created the set, costumes and movements based on our observations at the dump," he explained.
While working on Kembang Sampah, Miroto was shocked, along with the rest of the country, by the events of May of this year.
"I was horrified to see hundreds of charred bodies being treated like garbage," he said.
Miroto's Kembang Sampah symbolizes the unfortunate and abandoned people who can find no place of their own in society.
Nine other dancers are involved in the performance of Kembang Sampah, including Mugiyono, Fajar Satriadi, Cahyaningtyas Dwi Eka, Bambang Suryono and Heri from Surakarta in Central Java and Besar Widodo, R.M. Krevianto, Sulistyo Rini and Budiawan from Yogyakarta.
"They are all professional dancers who are capable of interpreting ideas, concepts and choreography. They are given freedom to become themselves, without sacrificing the content of the work," Miroto said.
The choreographer went on to explain that he preferred to say that his composition is a process of communicating and expressing ideas to create the finest forms and gestures.
"I think this composition is like a dance theater in which every dancer appears as an 'actor' who focuses on his or her individuality when performing," said Miroto, who also studied dance theater in Germany.
Miroto said this helped him to avoid becoming stuck in a rut with only a single idea and a single style in the performance. Instead, he creates a choreography which draws on the ability of each individual and brings this together through solid teamwork. The result is a dynamic and impressive performance.
In some parts of the composition, the choreographer maintains unity by featuring series of uniform movements.
"In term of choreography, these movements are quite significant and serve as a 'delicious flavor' to enliven the dance," he said.
In Kembang Sampah, Miroto borrows the techniques of wayang kulit (leather puppet) performances.
"When I was a child, I was mesmerized by wayang kulit shows. I found that the performances possessed a strong dynamic energy," recalled Miroto.
He has adopted wayang kulit techniques to convey a story's contents and actions in some of his previous works, including Sampah in l985, Keringat (Sweat, l986) and Isih (l991).
Miroto's works most often begin with nonchalant situations which lead up to conflicts and revelations, in the same way as in the wayang kulit.
Miroto has brought in noted contemporary composer G. Djaduk Ferianto to write the accompanying music for his latest performance.
Miroto has also involved young fashion designer Samuel Watimenna, who tailored the dancers' costumes. Two other artists, Ong Hary Wahyu and Sony Sumarsono have been made responsible for the stage set and the lighting.
"I have obtained valuable experience from collaborating with these people," Miroto said. (raw)