Festival puts Indonesia's folk arts heritage on the map
Festival puts Indonesia's folk arts heritage on the map
JAKARTA (JP): Dancers woo onlookers with their erotically
charged movements in the Gandrung Banyuwangi dance, beckoning
them into an arena which usually measures eight meters by six
meters.
When dancing in pairs, the dancer will serenade her partner
with the typical Banyuwangi songs of East Java as the night grows
old and more sultry. Even when the dancing has stopped, the
dancers continue to engage in a flirtatious repartee as the
enthralled audience looks on.
The accompanying orchestra is modest, comprising one large and
one small drum beaten by one drummer, two violins, one kethuk,
instrument to produce a complementary sound for the percussion
and strings, four gongs and kluncing, an instrument made of metal
bars attached to each other to produce a distinctive sound.
The shows, held either for individual or group functions,
usually last from 8 p.m. until dawn with a relatively fixed
pattern. The show is always initiated with jejer, in which a
dancer performs while singing folk songs of Podho Nonton and
Kembang Menur. Jejer performances usually last for about an hour
and no audience members are allowed to participate.
However, when it is finished the audience is encouraged to
join in. A master of ceremonies called the geddog, usually also
representing the host, will offer a yellow or red scarf to
selected members of the audience. Whoever receives the garment
must move to the arena to dance with the dancers. The show
concludes when a singer performs the Seblang Subuh song.
This folk art combining dance and songs to musical
accompaniment is popular in Banyuwangi and Jember, East Java.
This song-and-dance show is mostly staged in the Islamic months
of Syawal to Rabiustsani with the exception of the haj month.
There are currently 12 gandrung groups in Banyuwangi, most of
them in Glagah district. Surveys conducted in February and April
1999 found Gandrung Temu was the most popular group. It is not
only loved by the local Osin community, but also by Javanese and
Madurese living in Banyuwangi.
Its popularity is one of the reasons the Association of Oral
Traditions (ATL) invited one of the Gandrung dance groups to
perform in the International Seminar and Festival of Folk Oral
Tradition held at Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts center from Oct. 14
through Oct. 19.
It closes the one-month Festival Budaya Nusantara, the
Nusantara Cultural Festival held at four venues -- Tirtagangga
(Bali), Pontianak (West Kalimantan), Tanjung Pinang (Riau) and
Jakarta, from Sept. 9 through Oct. 19.
During the daytime, numerous scholars, artists and experts
will attend the third International Seminar on Nusantara Oral
Traditions with a special theme: The Voices of the Millennium; An
Intercultural Dialog.
The seminar aims at revitalizing and enhancing the potential
of traditions in the process of nation building.
The festival on folk performing arts and oral traditions
will be held at nights.
"The festival is expected to provide a forum for intense
interaction between local and global cultures; traditions and
contemporary works," explains Pudentia MPSS, chairwoman of the
festival's committee.
It presents a true picture of this pluralistic nation, going
beyond the paper cutouts in Jakarta to present pieces of
Indonesia which most people, urbanites in particular, seldom get
the chance to experience.
During the festival, the Jakarta audience enthusiastically
took in the rare folk performing art, Wayang Potehi (Potehi
puppet) from Semarang, Central Java.
The performing art, performed Thursday night at the plaza of
Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center, resembles the wayang golek
(wooden puppet) of West Java. The puppeteer, usually the
offspring of a mixed ethnic Chinese-Indonesian marriage, plays
the gamelan. The story tells of the gods in mainland China and
the show uses Malay or Chinese or a combination of the two.
It is unclear whether the Chinese community embraces wayang
potehi as their own, but the art form's devoted fans are from the
multiethnic community residing in Semarang. Sets of the puppets
are on display at Semarang's Great Temple Sampokong.
In addition to Gandrung Banyuwangi and Wayang Potehi, visitors
to the festival will also be able to enjoy the beauty of the
Cokek dance from Betawi, the indigenous Jakartan population, with
its roots among the ethnic Chinese in the city once known as
Batavia.
It is similar to the Sundanese jaipongan of West Java, Tayub
of Blora in Central Java and Tandak from East Java. The cokek
tradition dates back to the Dutch colonial era in Batavia in the
19th century.
The festival also features the Dade Ndante oral tradition from
Central Sulawesi. This tradition hails from Tanpa village, Sindue
district, in Donggala regency, Central Sulawesi. It has existed
for generations among the Kori community who speak the Kaili
dialect. The song not only functions as entertainment but also as
a traditional medium for spreading information.
Another unique tradition is Hoho fetataro, a folk song from
Nias, North Sumatra, that relies on poetry to express adoration
toward respected community figures like traditional chiefs and
heroes. (raw)