Kalacakra brings local production to Australia

Kalacakra brings local production to Australia

Dewi Anggraeni, Contributor, Melbourne, Australia

We only have to look around to realize that we have a wealth of
creativity in Indonesia. Thus, in any city in the world where
there are over 10,000 Indonesian students, there is bound to be
an undercurrent of creative swell seeking manifestation.

Kalacakra, an artistic and performing group consisting of 20
Indonesian students from various universities, is one such
manifestation in Melbourne, Australia.

Forming a group may not be so difficult, but to have the
drive, self-discipline and skill to stage a marketable production
is certainly no mean feat.

In its 2003 production, Ambyar (Bursting into Fragments),
performed first on March 29 at the Clocktower Centre in Moonee
Ponds, the group was able to present a wide range of numbers,
from a blending of modern and traditional dances, poetry
recitals, monologues, a blending of martial arts and dance,
accompanied by a live orchestra of percussion, drum, keyboard and
stringed instruments, and a beautifully simple play of lighting.

The scene and ambience of a lone vocalist accompanying the
opening number of Prakata (Prologue), which builds up into a full
story, eerily brings the audience into the heart of the
performance, whose general theme is the unraveling of Indonesia's
history from the early 20th century, through the independence
period, up to the current reform era.

Ambyar does not romanticize this history. In fact, each number
expresses protests and often sharp criticisms. The fact that the
group members are able to unself-consciously bring into the
choreography the many arts of Indonesia, such as aspects of
Topeng Cirebon (Cirebon Mask) into the dance number Poet, shows
how the performers have absorbed the different arts of the nation
into their psyche.

Ambyar is a team effort. Each piece has its own choreographer-
cum-director, yet the overall production does not appear patchy
or amateurish. The mischievous spirit of the young artists is
felt throughout the different numbers, lending them lightness and
freshness.

One particular mischievous item is the monologue Pempek,
performed skillfully and energetically by Fanny Hanusin, where
the topic of food merges seamlessly into other topics such as
issues of being of a minority, the superficiality of the prose of
some pop music and individual tastes, and is underlined
throughout with a big dose of humor. Pempek is fish dumpling
served with sauce, a famous food from Palembang, South Sumatra.

The March performance made such a mark that Asialink of the
University of Melbourne invited Kalacakra to stage the show at
the Sydney Myer Asia Centre theater on May 9. And some sponsors
are reportedly arranging to bring Ambyar to Sydney.

In the May 9 performance, some modifications were made in
conformation with the different stage, and in consideration of
the different makeup of the audience.

It was heartening to see that the performers were versatile
enough to present their speaking parts in English, while making
use of multimedia technology where it was impracticable to
present an item live, indicating some professionalism. However,
they need to spend more time in planning the modified production,
in order not to lose any of the subtle ambience and soul of the
original show.