Hartati finds her feet on the stage

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Dancing has always worked as escapism for choreographer Hartati.

As a child of divorce, caught in the tug of war between grandparents and her mother, she became painfully introverted.

Luckily, she found refuge in dance.

"Dancing is like a discharge ... Every burden would be released. It's a space to throw it all away, to neutralize the pressure," said Hartati, a Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) graduate.

"Afterwards, there is nothing left but a feeling of satisfaction."

Now a mother of two infants and an introvert no more, the 37 year old does not go on stage anymore, saying she is uncomfortable with her "disproportional" body.

Instead, Hartati creates dance numbers as a medium to channel her concern about women's issues.

Her most recent work, Ritus Diri (Self Rites), staged during Art Summit Indonesia last week, deals with the friction between traditional values and modernity .

"On one hand, a woman is demanded to move forward, to have the same opportunities as men. But on the other hand, the deeply rooted tradition says otherwise. Women do move forward, but they always look back," said Hartati, who is married to choreographer Boi G. Sakti of Gumarang Sakti dance company.

Women need to make the changes within them, she said, to find the path that suits them.

"If they want to stay home, it's OK. There are also women who can juggle both progress and tradition, or women who want to free themselves completely from tradition. That's a matter of choice, it shouldn't be argued."

The process of seeking freedom is what Hartati wanted to reveal in her latest work.

"It's like a journey from a traditional mental state to the rational modernity ... before coming out again as a new person."

Still, the process of looking inward can be disorienting and cause anxiety, with some women eventually retreating into the secure state of traditional values.

The dance ends by showing how women, whether passing through the rites of passage or failing to do so, are like pillars supporting the culture.

Born in Jakarta but raised in Muara Labuh, a small village in South Solok, West Sumatra, the main theme of Hartati's choreography -- women in society -- comes from her own experience.

Despite living in West Sumatra's matrilineal society where inheritance is through the mother, she said women there encountered the same problems of their counterparts in other societies.

"Especially in the more private scope of family. Daughters always face discrimination, they have to do all the chores and serve their brothers and fathers," said Hartati.

It usually does not get any better with marriage.

Boi, Hartati said, was not a conventional chauvinist who demanded she stay home to take care of the household.

"But I can see that he still has that wish," she added.

Still, the two have experienced much together, a long journey which started when they entered IKJ's School of Dance in the same year.

Hartati was involved in Boi's work from the beginning, joining Gumarang Sakti, which was previously run by Boi's mother, the late Gusmiati Said, both as a dancer and assistant choreographer.

With the dance company, she has created several works, including 2001's The Way of Woman. Dealing with women in a patriarchal society, the piece has been staged abroad, including at the Bates Dance Festival in Maine.

Her first solo work, Sayap Yang Patah (Broken Wing), and 2002's Membaca Meja (Reading the Table), continued to explore the same theme.

As with the bulk of Gumarang Sakti's works, Hartati also draws from West Sumatran traditional dance.

With her signature style of a continuous flow of movements, Hartati said she held to the concept that dance was a movement and movement was universal.

A fellow reporter quipped that dancers of Gumarang Sakti, with their agility and strength, could easily compete as gymnasts in the National Games.

"We have strict training and a schedule. We rehearse three times a day, a total of around eight to nine hours a day," Hartati said.

The results speak for themselves, with the group frequently invited abroad.

In 2000, Hartati received a grant from the Asia Cultural Center to spend six months in New York to immerse herself in the local dance scene, whether watching performances or taking classes.

"At that time, I realized that Indonesian choreographers are as skillful as foreign choreographers, maybe even more so. Our foreign peers have no tradition to draw works from, so their explorations are limited."

People in Western countries are often amazed, Hartati said, at how a contemporary piece of work could be created from traditional arts.

"All the problems and obstacles we face in this country are also actually a blessing in disguise. We have so many things to tell. That gives our works more soul."

The irony is that foreigners are more appreciative of her works, she said, adding that the company had sometimes received 15-minute-long standing ovations abroad.

But reality -- the lack of decent performance venues, minimal sponsorship and poor appreciation -- inevitably bites when they return home.

"We can't even pay our dancers on a regular basis, only when there are performances. And finding sponsorship to hold a performance is very difficult. So far I have always depended on grants," she said.

Nevertheless, it is the world she loves. She is devoted to creating, not necessarily frequently but as regularly as possible, in order to sharpen her character.

She wants to be herself, not standing in the shadow of her husband or her late mother in law, as she battles the discrimination that still exists against women choreographers.

"Maybe it's because of the fact that female choreographers are very few, and their works are often considered to lack punch," she said.

Like that shy little girl gingerly finding her feet on the dance floor, Hartati is today determined to achieve her goals.