Entranced 'ebeg' dancers dance with death with feats

Entranced 'ebeg' dancers dance with death with feats

Text and photos by Agus Maryono

PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): In the beginning, Darsono's
dance looks normal, rhythmic, amusing, and extremely dynamic. His
dancing movement mimics that of a prognathous character,
sometimes even that of a wild horse.

As the dance goes on, his movements became more and more
uncontrollable. With his eyes staring straight up, and a bamboo
horse between his legs, his movements became jerky and erratic.
He dances wildly, almost in the fashion of an angry wild horse.
His body begins to shake while he holds his bamboo horse, and
once in a while he leaps as a wild horse would do. Then suddenly
his movements cease, like a machine suddenly shut down, as he
adopts a stance with his body shaking and his head rotating.

During this phase the audience begin to prepare themselves for
the climax of the performance. And true enough, the 21-year-old
Darsono spontaneously runs abruptly straight to the audience, not
caring for whatever obstacle is in his way. Thus the audience
clears out of the way to avoid Darsono who is running ferociously
with the bamboo horse between his legs.

Then three other dancers instinctively run after the entranced
Darsono who is caught by his mates after he falls into a ditch
about 100 meters from the stage. His body is covered with dirt
and mud. Nevertheless, the spirit which occupies his body for
some reason refuses to leave. Covered in mud, Darsono keeps on
dancing to the rhythm of the music. He becomes tired and relaxed
only after an elderly man, a witch doctor of the dance group,
comes by and puts something to his nose for him to smell. The
young man, who looks utterly exhausted, is later carried away by
his friends to be washed and cleaned.

Darsono, who was performing an ebeg dance, is a member of the
Taruna Muda ebeg dance group, from Karangklesem subdistrict in
the southern part of Purwokerto, Banyumas regency. The trance
scene is known to the locals as mendem, which is a scene of the
performance where the dancer is unconscious because his body has
been occupied by a spirit, intentionally summoned by the elderly
witch doctor as part of the performance. The ebeg dance
performance is also known as kuda kepang or kuda lumping. All
three names have the same meaning, which is to summon a spirit
using a bamboo horse as a medium.

This art is popular in Banyumas regency, especially in
Cilacap, Purbalingga and Banyumas districts. Ebeg is widely
popular because not only is it not expensive to perform, about Rp
400,000 per performance, but also because the show lasts a long
time - about eight hours, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

According to an officer of the local culture and education
office in Banyumas regency, Suhardi, currently there are about
150 ebeg groups which are still active in putting on performances
in the regency.

The ebeg is not like any other art. "Not everyone can do it,"
Sarikun, 47, leader of the Taruna Muda group, told The Jakarta
Post.

Sarikun, who has been performing since he was 14, said the
uniqueness of the performance lies in the dancer's agility in
performing the ebeg. The dancers (who are known as wayang or
puppets) must also be willing to be involved with the spirit
world.

"Yes, the ebeg is a combination of dance and mystical powers,
and both qualities must be apparent in wayang (performance),"
Sarikun explained further.

"A wayang who is only good at dancing but is not involved with
the spirit world, will not be able to perform the ebeg. Vice
versa, a wayang who is able to be involved with the spirit world,
but can not dance well, is also unacceptable", Sarikun added.

"The main attraction of the ebeg, is where a spirit takes over
a dancer's body. If this is not accomplished, we can say that it
is a merely pointless dance performance," Sarikun further added.

He also explained that in order to acquire sufficient mystical
powers, one must fast for three days, ngebleng (not eating for
one whole day), and mutih (eating unsalted food).

For every person who wishes to be an ebeg performer, there are
certain requirements to be fulfilled. "The first is that the
person must have strong mental preparation and courage. It is
often that one's life may be at stake," Sarikun said.

He gave an example of an ebeg dancer in a trance who may climb
dangerously high trees, or may run ferociously into a wall or
other hard objects. The next is to be an expert in certain
traditional dances.

There are four dances which the ebeg performer must be able to
do perfectly. They are Kricik-kricik, Eling-eling, Gudril, and
Bendrong Kulon. "In any ebeg group, either of the four dances
will be required, because it is essential to the ebeg
performance. There are other types of dances performed but those
are merely additional," explained Sarikun.

When the four dances have been mastered, then the person may
be taught how to achieve a state of trance and at the same time
dance the four essential dances, where of course beforehand the
person has gone through fasting.

Music

The musical instruments used for the performance are
relatively simple. They are sets of Javanese gamelan instruments
consisting of, two saron, a demung, a pair of bonang and a
kendang. The ebeg dancers will dance according to the tunes of
gamelan players. The number of ebeg dancers in a performance in
general is 10, with five dancers in reserve. Also the ebeg
performance is accompanied by one or two sinden (female
traditional singers), and two or three sesepuh (elderly witch
doctors who "guide" the spirits).

Before each performance there are several things which are to
be prepared. For example, glasses of water, incense (derived from
the gum benzoin), perfume, rose flowers, black coffee, sugar
cubes, bitter tea, some herbs, pieces of broken glass, burning
coal, a live chicken, and so on.

"These things are required to fulfill what the spirit asks for
when it has occupied the dancer's body," Sarikun explained. "If
it asks for broken glass, we feed it broken glass. If it asks for
a live chicken, then we feed it a live chicken.", added Sarikun.

"I have eaten a few shards of glass. It didn't hurt, it was
like eating a biscuit. But once I regained conscious, and the
spirit left my body, then the pain starts," Darsono said, adding
he didn't feel the pain when his lip was cut. "When I ate a live
chicken, I drank its blood like it was water. But after I
regained consciousness, I started to feel unwell and vomited all
over the place", Darsono added.

Sarikun explained that before a trance act is put on, the
sesepuh would burn the incense, as an opening ceremony to invite
the spirits to come. "Then, we would start chanting, to call the
spirits, also we would spread flowers on the stage where the
dancers are."

According to Sarikun, the very moment the chants begin and the
flowers are spread, the dancers would begin to enter a trance in
their own way.

"Usually the dances performed while in a trance would look
more amusing and dynamic, because the dancers now have more
energy provided by the spirits in them", Sarikun said.

Every dancer would be in a trance for half-an-hour or up to a
whole hour. When they are done, their bodies strain and they may
fall to the ground. Here the sesepuh comes and tries to revive
them. "There are several ways to do so, such as the scent of a
rose flower, or a simple touch suffices."

As long as Sarikun was a dancer until he became one of the
sesepuh, he was happy. Because up to the present, the ebeg
remains popular among the people, especially the people of
Banyumas. The profit which they earn may run out on hiring
sinden, maintaining the stage equipment, or buying things to feed
the spirits, but this is not a worry. "To us, being able to
perform and be appreciated by our audience is enough. There are
no accidents and the performers are content with what they earn.
That alone is fulfilling," Sarikun said.

There was an accident once where one of the dancers fractured
his skull when he was in a trance, and Sarikun had to pay for his
medical treatment. Sarikun also said that they had to rent
gamelan players and sinden for each performance. "Not all ebeg
groups have their own musical accompaniment, most of us still
have to rent them," Sarikun added. For one performance the group
earns Rp 400,000.

In the midst of the current monetary crisis, ebeg performances
are still popular. "I do this not to make money, but to
entertain. It is my skill. Also to conserve a tradition and
heritage which have existed since our ancestors," said Sarikun,
who is also an employee of the Damri public bus company.

"It is unfortunate that the government rarely gives us the
attention we need. We were never supported, or helped whatsoever
to conserve this traditional art," he complained.