'Gora-Goda', an exotic non-verbal dance piece

By Carla Bianpoen

JAKARTA (JP): Power struggles are nothing new in real life, but on stage, reality can be even more staggering.

Kang Man-hong, a Korean avant-garde performance artist of international renown, has conceived a piece which mirrors the destructive powers in human beings. "Like a glass of water, if it is drunk by a cow it becomes milk, but a snake will produce poison," says Man-hong, commenting on the piece showing the evil side of human existence.

Based on ki energy, this mixture of dance and drama, which speaks through ritual movements without a word being spoken, Gora-Goda has been staged in Korea and New York City. In Jakarta, the dance composition will be performed Dec. 23 and Dec. 24 at 8 p.m. at Gedung Graha Bakti, Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center, Cikini Raya No. 73.

In Surakarta, Central Java, it will be staged on Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Taman Budaya Surakarta, Jl. Ir. Sutami No. 57.

While it was originally inspired by oriental spirituality, which Man-hong experienced in his home country, India and other countries in Asia, the current production has taken cultural and performing elements from the Indonesian dance and drama tradition. Unlike in previous performances, Man-hong has included Indonesian performers.

Awakening

Kang Man-hong is a practitioner and choreographer of Korean traditional dance, mask and ritual dance as well as Indian Chhau dance. He was born in Chonan, Chungchong-namdo, and graduated from the Seoul Institute of the Arts. He traveled to India to be involved in meditation and study the Indian Chau dance.

A teacher of movement meditation and Asian dance at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, in the late 1980s, Kang Man- hong is presently a professor at the Seoul Institute of the Arts, where he has designed his own curriculum combining acting with Zen meditation and Tao training. He has described his approach to meditation in Awakening, his first book which is in its sixth printing in South Korea.

Kang Man-hong's American experience includes a long list of involvement. In 1987, he made his debut as choreographer and performer in Stabat Mater at the Arts at St. Ann's, New York. In 1988 and 1989 he played the title role in Mythos Oedipus, which was directed by Ellen Stewart at the La Mama theater in New York City.

In 1988, he conceived, directed and designed Summ, a ritual dance theater piece which premiered at Arts at St. Ann's during his stay there as artist-in-residence. In 1989, the performance was staged at the Apple Corps Theater in New York and the Manhattan Triplex.

He returned to Seoul in 1990 and founded his own theater company called Summ (Breath). Since then he has continued seeking a new form of drama that limits the use of verbal language. He has conceived, directed and produced various pieces based on his spiritual journeys through eastern cultures.

His first encounter with Indonesia was during the Second Indonesian Dance Festival in 1993, to which he contributed Flower of Incense, choreographed and performed by himself.

His second encounter with Indonesia was in Korea, when Sulystio Tirtokusumo's work Panji Sepuh was performed in Seoul in 1995. Man-hong says he is inspired by Indonesia's cultural diversity and the "heart" as opposed to "head" realities where people are led by the forces of the heart. He loves the primitive elements still existing in Indonesia and appreciates the sophistication which he finds here at the same time.

"There is such a rich culture, so much human potential, so many interesting elements. We need to do more to bring these to an elevated and developed level," he says. "It is time for Asia to awake and stop looking to the West."

The cast

Produced by Adilla Suwarno, Gora Goda includes many players who have been involved in performances in Indonesia as well as abroad. These include Restu Imansari, as assistant choreographer and performer, Tony Prabowo as the music director, Margesti as a performer, and vocalist Nyak Ina Raseuki.

If Kang Man-hong's original version called Seduction earned Jack Anderson's appreciative article in The New York Times, Jan. 16, 1996, then we can expect a dance-theater performance of rare quality. Anderson wrote:

"Although unrelievedly somber, Seduction never turned monotonous thanks to Mr. Kang's ability to devise ever-startling variations on the theme of human evil."