'Ken Dedes' explores women's roles

'Ken Dedes' explores women's roles

JAKARTA (JP): In this creative assessment of women's complex
personalities, goodwill and endeavors taken for the cause of
maturity and good living as contemporary times hail feministic
views and women-oriented struggles, Ken Dedes is said to be a
heroic dance-dramatic attempt to discover the truth of being a
woman, and coming to terms with it.

Ken Dedes is a modern dance-drama directed by choreographer
Rusdy Rukmarata and production manager Herwindra Aiko Senosoenoto
of Eksotika Karmawibhangga Indonesia dance company.

Scheduled to be staged for two nights (Aug. 30 and Aug. 31) at
Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (Jakarta Playhouse), Ken Dedes is
supported by resident choreographer Edmund Gaerlan, with Firman
Ichsan handling art arrangements, G. Djaduk Ferianto music, and
Ki Hadi Sujiwo Tejo narration and script-writing.

The primary concern of Ken Dedes is to reassess women's roles
against a cacophony of upsurging women's issues that fortifies
brash feminism, leaving women resentful, even indifferent toward
men. Emphasis is put on unfortunate issues between men and women
by epitomizing female beauty, which is said to have mythical
origins.

"Even in the 1990s, women try enhancing physical allure for a
man's happiness, just as a man feels pride in flaunting a
beautiful woman," explained Aiko about mythical perceptions.

According to Aiko, women tend to confuse being free,
independent thinkers with being feministic, even foolishly
refusing to ask for necessary help.

"If women feel they don't need men, they are still not
thinking independently. Their basics still revolve around the
'man' factor," she explained. "A man and a woman are two parts of
a whole. To put the other down will only make both of them
miserable eventually."

Aiko's clever comparisons of man-woman relationships to
thought-worthy concepts are intriguing. An example would be a
comparison of a fruitless relationship to that of a dagger and
its sheath.

"Both treat the other as a sex object. There is no link,
except for indulging in sexual acts. Just as a dagger enters into
a sheath," she said.

The opposing comparison in Ken Dedes is beautiful, true, and
the only way to have a relationship -- as that shared by the bow
and the arrow.

"Man and woman are two different creatures. It is because they
are different, they work together to form the full circle of
life. Just as a sharpened arrow has no meaning without a strong
bow, and a weak bow has no use at all, a man and a woman need to
help each other, and work together," explained Aiko.

A noteworthy aspect of the drama is the performing dancer-
dramatists. Most of the young dancers are bogged down by harsh
realities and could have easily turned to life on the streets
instead of taking up dancing. However, the youngsters dance with
a zeal that is both self-serving and creatively productive.

The dance company helps the youngsters and "turns them into
productive, useful and self-confident individuals ... we are also
developing their improvisations and choreographic talents,"
Edmund Gaerlan said.

The dance company recruits local and international experts in
fields ranging from music and dance, to promotional expertise and
sponsorships. Dancers routinely practice through the eight-hour
drill daily, and live up to artistic ventures.

To dancing fans, dance-dramas may not be about giving
exceptional performances as much as about the filtering of
dynamic frustrations with issues such as sexuality.

Ken Dedes is about reanimating realism in a softer light,
giving motion and fluidity to cold, crude complexities and grace
to an almost futile quest for a woman's happiness in a man-
dominated world. (02)