Fourth Indonesian Dance Festival starts today
By Mariam K. Sutalaksana
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Institute for the Arts (IKJ) and Gedung Kesenian Jakarta have been bouncing with dancers, choreographers and patrons of this art since July 22.
Early in the morning in IKJ's Room C, Linda Hoemar from Indonesia taught modern dance technique as part of a creative dance workshop. At 11 a.m., the event continued with choreographers Maxine Haeppner from Canada and Leyson Ponce from Venezuela conducting dance composition workshops.
On the same day at IKJ's Graha Bhakti Budaya, another workshop on educational dance was held. The next day, while Hoemar, Haeppner and Ponce shared their knowledge, Laura Schuster (USA) and Marianne Ariyanto talked about Laban movement at the Jakarta International School.
These scenes were just glimpses of the Fourth Indonesian Dance Festival, which officially runs from July 25 to 31 but was buzzing with activity before its formal start.
Sal Murgiyanto, the executive chairman of the festival, said at a press conference last Thursday that the theme of this year's celebration is When Tradition Modernizes: An Intercultural Dialog. The festival events will be a mixture of traditional modern dances, modern traditional dances as well as an exchange of thoughts during the seminars and workshops.
There will be performances showcasing selected young choreographers and a children's dance show on July 27. The main presentations will display the works of senior and more experienced choreographers from 11 countries.
From Indonesia, Farida Oetoyo and her Sumber Cipta group will perform Putih Kembali while Bagong Kussudiardjo will present Tari Semar. Others performing from Indonesia include Dasa Manao (Fataelusa), Bekti Laksmini (Tari Tane), Linda Hoemar (Lalu), Mugiyono (Kosong), Mas Nanu Munajar (Kosong), Syaiful Erman (Jalo), M. Miroto (Incarnation, Shadow and Penumbra), Laksmi Simanjuntak (Time and the Past), and Eko Supriyanto (Leleh).
Canada is represented by Maxine Haeppner, who explained that after working for so long in Asia, she almost forgot her native languages, English and French, when she went back to Canada. That memorable occasion led to the inspiration for her When We Have No Words in Common. "You can interpret it as that or as when sometimes even when you speak the same language it is sometimes hard to express what you are feeling with words." She will also perform My Past Follows Like a Dragon's Tail.
Leyson Ponce from Venezuela will be performing Malabar and Air form Heaven. This is his first time in Indonesia.
Others attending the festival are Edmund G. Gaerlan from the Philippines, Kim Mae-Ja with the Chang Mu Dance Company and Choi Eun Hee from South Korea, Yin Mei and Mauriel Cohan/Patrick Suzeau from the United States, Jackie Taffanel from France, Kota Yamazaki from Japan, the Kuala Lumpur Dance Theater from Malaysia, Angela Liong from Singapore and the Tsoying High School from Taiwan.
Murgiyanto showed video previews of the work by the Korean choreographers which revealed a melange of traditional Korean costumes combined with slow movements. The high school students from Taiwan, also seen on video, will be performing modern dance based on traditional Chinese dance along with more modern pieces. As high school students, according to Murgiyanto, the dancers' nine years of training translate into strong technique.
In addition to the main performances, other novice choreographers will be showcased on the afternoons of July 30 and July 31.
During the world dance conference and dance seminars, participants will discuss dance research and methods, dance anthropology, educational dance as well as dance and performance management. There will also be two lecture demonstrations on Korean New Dance and Classical Cambodian Dance. To spice up the festivities, the World Dance Alliance--Asia Pacific Center will conduct their annual meeting on the last day of the festival.
In 1993, observer Nirwan Dewantoro commented in a newspaper that the local dancers during the second festival were unable to match the quality of the invited performers. That was three years ago.
This year's local performers should be able to deliver at least the same level of quality as our invited guests. An international event brings a certain responsibility for the committee and the attendees to offer the spectators, observers and critics a gratifying performance.
If this fourth Indonesian Dance Festival is a sign of the growing seriousness and enthusiasm of the Indonesian dance community then it is encouraging for those in love with dance. The unspoken language of movement is part of everybody's life. The festival's many events are for artists, children, teachers, critics, historians, anthropologists and even those involved in management. One only need to pick and choose.