Indonesian Dance Festival brings impressive offerings
Indonesian Dance Festival brings impressive offerings
Text and photos By Mukhti
JAKARTA (JP): A female dancer suddenly appears from behind the
stage, moving her body fast and then slow. Sometimes she stops
her movements.
The dancer, Korean-born Sen Hea Ha, illustrates a place of
repose where a woman discovers her spiritual communal space and
time within the complexities of modern life through her piece Lux
Aeterna. Audiences were mesmerized with her performance after
packing the opening of the fifth Indonesian Dance Festival at the
Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki in Central Jakarta on
Thursday evening.
Sen Hea Ha is one of many renowned dancers from China, Japan,
Indonesia, Korea and the United States taking part in the dance
festival, which is also held at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta and runs
through Sept. 21.
First prize in the choreography competition, the Gedung
Kesenian Jakarta Award II 1999, was presented on opening night.
The winning piece, the Masannang dance, was inspired by the
movements of the Mamasa tribe, native to South Sulawesi.
Korean choreographer Joh Soengjoo presented the Second Name of
That Woman on Sept. 17 and Sept. 18 at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta,
which pictured a sketch of an unconscious desire to be free.
On the same days, Indonesian choreographers Arya Yudistira
Syuman and Chendra Effendy also presented their works.
Chendra presented his choreographed piece, Nurani
(Conscience), while Yudistira featured Miauw, inspired by a poem
about a cat by Jorge Lois Borges.
On Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, a collaboration piece between
choreographer Wen Hui and dancers from the Indonesian Art
Institute of Surakarta will present Dining with 1999 along with
two pieces by Sulistyo Tirtokusumo, Bedoyo Suryo Sumirat and
Krisis (Crisis), to entertain art lovers at the Graha Bhakti
Budaya.
Choreographer Yamazaki will stage his unique piece, Chinoise
Flower, with the Rosy.Co dance company on Sept. 20.
The entire festival will close on Sept. 21 with a series of
dances presented by the IKJ dance company.