'Gambuh' given Western nuance

'Gambuh' given Western nuance

Kadek Suartaya, Contributor/Ubud

The art of the traditional Balinese gambuh dance drama is dying,
at least in the island it comes from.

It is now difficult to find a gambuh theater group, as most
young artists are not interested in this traditional performing
art. These days, gambuh are usually only performed in important
religious ceremonies. Observers worry the art form, believed to
be the source of all performing arts in Bali, could soon become
extinct.

However, there is still hope left for Gambuh, in the form of
the Arti Foundation. Gambuh groups normally present traditional
stories about the heroism of Javanese Kings, however on Thursday
the foundation's players used the form to interpret a famous
William Shakespeare play in a performance entitled Gambuh
Macbeth. Their show at the Museum Arma in Ubud was part of the
Indonesian Performing Arts Mart (PAM) that took place in Bali
from June 15 until June 17.

The foundation, which explores and develops classical Balinese
arts, is under the direction of Kadek Suardana. The group has
performed free in several temples in Bali and last year was
invited to perform in Singapore and Germany.

The spirit of creativity was strongly felt in the performance
and the show stunned the spectators with its myriad of
innovations. The act when Macbeth stabbed the king was presented
behind a curtain in a "room" that was moved around on the stage.
Tension filled the air when an act of a war was staged with dance
steps inspired by the brisk movement of coconut leaves in the
wind.

In the play, Kadek Suardana did not alter the classical mode
of gambuh. Instead, it seemed he wanted to present the original
gambuh form with a non-traditional subject. Following tradition,
all of the dancers were men. The costumes were simple and
minimalist with a touch of gold, which gave the play a mood of
ancientness.

Gambuh was once a prestigious performing art that was a
favorite of the Balinese courts.

It was believed the gambuh, was strongly influenced by the
arts of the East Java Majapahit Kingdom between 13th and 15th
century. This theatrical form was first known in Bali in the 15th
century during the golden age of the Gelgel kingdom in Klungkung,
particularly during the administration of the Gelgel king, Dalem
Waturenggong, when Bali art was at its peak. During this feudal
era, every palace in Bali had a bale pegambuhan assembly hall to
stage the shows.

After the era of kings ended, the gambuh became public
entertainment and its popularity quickly began to fade. Only
eight gambuh groups from different regencies took part in the
gambuh festival that was held in 1960. From the early 1970s, a
gambuh theater group was hard to find across the island. From
year to year, it was the same gambuh group that performed during
religious ceremonies held in Pura Besakih, the mother temple in
Bali.

The fate of gambuh moved some, including the U.S.-based Ford
Foundation, which funded efforts to preserve the art form,
including the research and documentation of a rare show in Batuan
village in Gianyar, and in Pedungan village, Denpasar. More
recently in Switzerland, artists formed a Basel Gambuh Ensemble
that demonstrated its skill in Bali in 1998.

Originating from the Keraton palace, gambuh is a serious and
complicated art. It has a tight pattern and complicated
theatrical elements. Its artistic values emerge from the
complexity in the choreography and in the music. Every musical
element in gambuh is strictly organized to fit with traditional
patterns. Each character has their own musical accompaniment,
which is complex and long in duration. Each character also has
their own dance movements and has to speak in Kawi (old Javanese)
with rhetoric patterns.

The presentation of Macbeth in the form of gambuh theater was
enchanting and intriguing but it could have been better if
performed more wholeheartedly. The artists, including the main
characters, should have paid more serious attention to the
articulation of the Kawi language.

The substance of the dialog also seemed to be ignored by the
dancers who failed to vary the delivery of their lines and often
did not react to what came out of their colleagues' mouths. This
lack of reaction meant the performers often made empty statements
with a lack of expression.

The concept of gambuh is much more than the story. It covers
both the music and the dance aesthetic, while the story is only
the setting. While the dance was often captivating, the bitter
tale and the tragic elements in Shakespeare's Macbeth did not
match with the less-prosaic performance of the dialog. The plot
and the emotion became dull in the frame of the complex
presentation of gambuh. Perhaps the story of Macbeth would have
been more appealing if it was performed in a Balinese folk
theater idiom -- the Arja or Gong Drama.

The writer is a gamelan artist and a lecturer at the Performing
Arts Department of the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) Denpasar.