'Jaipong' dancers find their stage on noisy roadside
By Ida Indawati Khouw
JAKARTA (JP): The young girl pranced across the small stage, her sensual movements in tune to the gamelan music.
As her head and shoulders moved statically up and down, she splayed her palms and swung her hips rhythmically, the characteristic movements of Jaipong, a modified Sundanese traditional dance. The tight sheen of her clothes drew all eyes to her beautiful, voluptuous figure.
The roar of trucks thundering by on the adjoining bridge did not drown out the saucy comments and whistles from spectators (bajidor).
One of the men suddenly stood and began dancing by himself. He paid no attention to the dancer, but slipped into the step- shuffle of a boxer, or moved woodenly with arms akimbo. Most importantly, he kept his rhythm.
His own jig completed, he went over to the dancer and groped around in his pocket for bills. He slowly counted them out one by one for her, all the time nudging close to her body.
Later on, a singer of Sundanese songs (sinden) unfolded a piece of paper from a spectator. Wrapped up in the paper was Rp 1,000 (40 U.S.cents). She put the money in a wooden box after reading out the name of the man requesting the song.
As she sang her song in the lilting, haunting Sundanese dialect, she entreated the spectator to come forward to the stage. "Brother Nanang, I haven't seen you for such a long time," she sang soulfully.
A man in a brown jacket kept coming forward to give her money. This she would keep for herself, while the money in the wooden box was counted at the end of the performance and used to pay the gamelan orchestra, security personnel and the performers.
Six days a week, the Sinar Budaya group owned by 67-year-old Abas performs next to a bridge notorious for the clamor of passing trucks, busses and other vehicles headed to the Bekasi bus terminal in West Java.
Snacks
The stage is located on a 3,000-square-meter area in Marga Jaya belonging to the Bekasi administration. Around the stage, there are some 15 plain bamboo stalls, selling snacks and cheap soft drinks. Most of them are owned by Abas' relatives, which includes five children and 26 grandchildren.
Visitors can take in the performance while eating, said Nur, an attendant at one of the stalls.
The entertainment is popular in Bekasi; according to the local tourism board, there are 14 jaipongan groups in the township.
Abas founded Sinar Budaya in 1984 "to perpetuate the culture," he said, adding that he was not an expert on the dance form.
This native of Bekasi also runs a dangdut music group and wayang golek, the shadow puppets of West Java. They practice on Thursday.
"Performances are forbidden on Thursday," Abas said. "I can't mention the reason, it was my late parents' instruction." There is also a prohibition barring performances during a particular month, but this changes every three months.
Abas said all the performers live with him as part of an extended family.
Bedroom
When the performance ended at 2 p.m., Ndeh, Kaswati, Ratih, Santi, Siti, Mamah and Marini filed behind the stage to the "bedroom". There were no beds or pillows, only plaited mats spread out in an even row.
Two women were asleep, their bodies swathed from head to toe to protect them from mosquitoes.
The singers changed into regular clothes, removed their makeup and combed their hair. They did not seem to care about passers-by peeking through the door openings.
"Sorry, I must meet my guests," Ratih, 18, the wife of a musician, said as she excused herself. She took a cigarette from a man and chatted with him.
Santi, 17, said the women sometimes earn extra money from guests for accompanying them for a drink.
With no sign of weariness in their faces even after singing and dancing for six hours, the women chatted with guests until dawn.
"I can't sleep before 5 a.m.," 17-year-old Ndeh said.
Are the performers also available as prostitutes? The female entertainers, particularly those performing at seedy roadside venues, are often assumed to earn extra money by selling themselves to customers.
Abas denied this was true of his group. "I make a strict regulation that no visitors can ask the women to go out without my permission." As long as they just chat here, it is alright."
Most of the women come from farming families in Karawang, West Java.
Ndeh is still in her teens but her heavy makeup makes her look much older. She is the prima donna of the group, gazed at longingly by the guests for her beauty.
"I actually wanted to be a teacher," Ndeh said as she tucked her legs beneath her and sat on a bench next to the stage.
She is the second daughter of five children of a farmer.
"Most of my friends and I did not continue school after graduating from elementary school because we had to help our parents," she said.
Ndeh said performers earn an average of Rp 20,000 to Rp 50,000 a night, but sometimes it is only Rp 10,000.
She has managed to save Rp 1 million in the bank. "I just save it, I have no plan on what I shall do with the money, but every month I send money to my parents for their daily expenses.
"I hope I find a husband to love. He should be a young guy."