Differences set aside at Children of the World Concert

Differences set aside at Children of the World Concert

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Little Charles is clearly enjoying himself. His hands and arms
keep on moving. Sometimes he raises his hands up high, sometimes
he keeps them low. His head follows to the tune, nodding up, down
and side to side. And his feet! Well, they have a rhythm of their
own, vigorously jumping, constantly moving.

But Charles, 6, was dancing alone. He was unaware he was alone
in his dance, nor did he know that on the spacious stage he was
the only one dancing differently. Other children followed a
memorized routine, dancing -- though no less excitedly -- to the
choreography of Eko Supriyanto.

Born blind, little Charles is certainly not deaf. In those
couple of minutes on stage, he abandoned all prescribed movements
and months of training just to follow the music in him.

The music compelled him to dance and so dance he did --
together with four of his other blind friends from the SLB A
Karya Murni school in Medan, North Sumatra, and assisted by
elementary school children from the Medan Children's Choir. On
Thursday night, they and more than 1,000 other children from
across the country were performing at the Children of the World
Choir Concert at the Jakarta International Convention Center.

"He (Charles) has been training since August. We let them (the
blind children) touch our legs and arms to understand how they
should move to the music," Charles's teacher Sister Angelina
explained.

On Thursday night, at least, all differences were set aside.
The blind and the seeing, the dark and the light skinned, the
blonde and the brunette, all joined in a celebration of childhood
innocence.

Together, the children, coming from all walks of life,
produced a show that was worth all the trouble and time. A
triumph for director Garin Nugroho, choreographer Eko Supriyanto
and Aida Swenson, the concert's musical director and initiator.

Divided into three segments -- a segment of Prayer, Hope and
finally one of Ending, and with clips from Garin Nugroho's
documentary of the children of Indonesia, the show brought a
message of peace and harmony, a thought to bring home for the
thousands of viewers that packed the Plenary Hall that night.

The hall was practically a stage, the center designed to look
like the raised shelters in a rice field, slowly filling up with
children as they finished their pieces, waiting for the great
finale. Meanwhile, more children's choirs were seated on the
tribunes to the right and left of the stage.

The Thursday night show opened with Manseren Nanggi Ryama Be
Aya, a traditional Papuan song about the services of man to God.
Elementary school children ran on stage and rushed between the
audience, giving the feeling that "this is our show too, you too
are part of the act".

Scenes from the Balinese janger and kecak dances were
presented as a tribute to the Balinese forebears of President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was attending the show. This was
followed by the Betawi Ondel-ondel song.

A Madurese piece, Lajengan, came on thick with the jazzy
nuances of Indonesian pop group Kahitna's Yovie Widianto and
Dodi. The song's upbeat tempo tells of children flying kites, and
brought a fresh, happy feeling to the show.

A shrill whistle sound then broke the kite flying and dozens
of children in toy-story-like soldier uniforms entered the stage
and performed the Javanese children's song Gundul Pacul, followed
by Tabik Saudara, which literally means "Hello, how are you?"

A sober piece, Gasua Garkoukou, performed by the Ambon
Children's Choir, was made all the more depressing by an
accompanying video showing the thousands of refugees seeking
transportation out of the troubled province.

Charles and his friends performed in the traditional Batak
songs Diding-diding and Sengko-sengko.

About 30 children's choirs performed that night, coming from
provinces, local schools, shelters and international schools.

Pieces sung by individual choirs were masterfully arranged by
Eko so the exchanges were uninterrupted, and the cold hand of
Garin Nugroho was evident in the beautiful lighting and stage
shots.

As an ending to the sequence of song and dance, the already
assembled choirs on stage performed Jill Jackson and Sy Miller's
song Let There Be Peace, Alfred Simanjuntak's Unite Oh Children
of the World, and finished the evening with Ibu Sud's inspiring
song Tanah Airku (My Motherland)

The concert ended with the catchy tune Manseren, and the
audience could not help but to dance along with the performers.

Satisfaction and pride shone on the children's faces that
night, especially on little Charles' as his hands and feet kept
on moving for as long as the music was in the air. For this one
night, we were all one.

Those who missed the concert live can catch the Children of the
World Choir Concert on SCTV on Oct. 28. Meanwhile, efforts to
produce and market VCDs are underway.