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.