Jakarta-Summit-Lutan

Jakarta-Summit-Lutan

JP/19/ELLY

Elly Lutan's 'Nyak' offers nothing new

The show opened with a man washing his face and arms in ablution.
Then slowly, he passed the dancers onstage and disappeared
backstage.

The opening scene was promising, with the music, the set and
the venue, but Elly Lutan's Tjut Nyak ultimately failed to
impress.

The dance performance, Nyak, was inspired by an Acehnese
heroine who fought against the Dutch invasion. Nyak was a woman
who dared to speak her mind and broke through the male-dominated
society of the time.

Tjut Nyak was a portrayal of women who never fear to express
their ideas: A woman who thinks far ahead and clearly, and
presents her art for religion, family, community and her country.

Elly's previous work focused mainly on women as protagonists,
but this time, Tjut Nyak's presence drowned in a sea of dancers.

Sometimes we lost her on stage; sometimes we did not even know
which one was her.

With a strong background in traditional dances like those of
Java, Minang in South Sumatra, Makassar in South Sulawesi and
Kalimantan, Elly never ventures into the extreme reaches of
modern dance.

As a result, the audience was given an excerpt of each
traditional dance, linked together into one slow hour.

Should it be all about Aceh, or would a little bit of Javanese
bedoyo dance look good with it? It seemed as though the
choreographer had lost direction and was indecisive while
creating this work.

It is unfortunate that Elly has some potentially good dancers,
but they could not seem to develop their capacity within the
frame of basic, mediocre choreography.

The ensemble male dancers looked more like decoration instead
of a part of the piece, and with more than 15 dancers, the stage
appeared cramped and circus-like.

Slamet Gundono, an performing artist from Solo, Central Java,
stole the show by singing an anecdote and delivering some social
criticism. But then the piece turned into street theater and the
atmosphere changed from flat to worse.

The redeeming point of the piece is Trie Utami, ex-singer of
the Krakatau Band, who has a powerful voice that creates an
ambience on its own.

Armen, the music director, also helped with traditional tunes
to indulge the ears.

Elly definitely needs a stronger thematic concept to explore
and take advantage of her dancers capabilities further.