Nothing sacred anymore about 'Bedaya' and 'Srimpi'

Nothing sacred anymore about 'Bedaya' and 'Srimpi'

By Ahmad Solikhan

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Body movement is a basic expression of human
mind and feeling, vested with its own power and values. In the
days of yore, men of letters in the Mataram Sultanate criticized
or praised the ruling sultan through meaningful body movement,
giving birth, therefore, to two "sacred" dances, Bedaya and
Srimpi. These dances are often performed on particular events
inside the palace.

Today, anybody interested in these two dances can go to the
Ksatrian Hall of the Yogyakarta palace every Sunday morning
between 10 a.m. and 12 a.m. This hall, precisely to the east of
the sultanate, has, since 1973, been used for dance rehearsals by
royal relatives, high-ranking court servants, and, recently, also
the general public.

One of the dancing instructors, Bandoro Raden Ayu (BRAY)
Kuswardani, 70, said before you could master these two dances
well, you must first be able to perform the Saritunggal, a basic
dance.

Ideally, the first six months will be spent on mastering
Saritunggal and the next six months on Bedaya and Srimpi. "The
two dances can be mastered in a year, provided you seriously take
the lessons once a week," said Kuswardani, wife of the late Gusti
Pangeran Haryo Yudhoyono.

You cannot start with Bedaya and Srimpi unless you have got
the mastery of saritunggal, because in the case of the former,
body movement must be given serious attention in view of the rich
composition of movement to be suited to the accompanying gamelan
sound. Student rehearsing inside the palace must put on special
costumes called busana peranakan to ensure freer movement of the
body and maintain decency within palace walls.

Another requirement is that students must still be single,
simply to ensure that they can keep their bodies slim. A slim
body will result in physical elasticity, a condition which in its
turn will allow a dancer to produce the most complicated movement
most esthetically. "This requirement must not lead to wild
interpretation," said Kuswardani, herself one of the great
grandchildren of Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono V and Sri Sultan
Hamengku Buwono VI.

Kuswardani, who has been a dance instructor since 1956, said
presently she had some 100 students who are either dance
instructors, students, locals or other enthusiasts from
Yogyakarta and outside Java. They are taking the dance lessons
because they want to later teach them.

The dance lessons are given free of charge every week. The
dance class receives a subsidy from the palace as it develops and
popularizes the culture. When you complete the course, you will
receive a certificate from the palace.

Several Americans, Japanese, Englishmen, Dutchmen, Indians and
Malaysians are now registered as students of the Bedaya and
Srimpi dances. The students have a strong interest in our
traditional dances and intend to teach this art to their
compatriots.

Unfortunately, very often they have to leave before completing
the course because their visas expire. Often the foreigners,
generally more serious than the local participants, only manage
to complete the three-month basic dance package.

"Seeing the demand, I am encouraged to give lessons in Bedaya
and Srimpi dances at home," said Kuswardani, who began to learn
dancing at the age of 10.

So now foreigners wishing to learn the Bedaya and Srimpi
dances are asked to enroll in her three-month complete dance
course at home. She can shorten the course by teaching foreigners
only the core movements, omitting lessons on how to make the body
elastic or move to the gamelan music.

Generally, foreigners only master a handful of dance
movements. "I don't set any rates for my private lessons," said
Kuswardani, who learned dancing at Kridobhekso Wiromo,
Yogyakarta.

Two Americans, Jenny Park, 24, and Karen, 22, said they were
interested in enrolling for the three-month dance course at
Kuswardani's house as they want to learn about Indonesian dance.
"Next vacation I will surely return here to learn more about the
local dances," Jenny said.

Bedaya and Srimpi dance classes were halted when Indonesia
proclaimed its independence in 1945. In the early years of
Indonesia's independence, the dance rehearsals were moved to
Kridobhekso Wiromo, set up in 1918 at the initiation of Gusti
pangeran Haryo Tedjokoesoemo and Gusti Bandoro Pangeran Haryo
Soeryodiningrat, both sons of Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono VII.
"The rehearsals were then still under the supervision of the
palace," said Kuswardani, who completed her secondary schooling
at Muhammadiyah Girls' Secondary School here.

Kanjeng Raden Tumenggung Surya Puspa Hadinegara, an observer
of the cultural history of Yogyakarta and Solo palaces, said the
Bedaya and Srimpi dances were created at the initiative of court
literary men, to be later handed over to the ruling kings so that
they could be popularized within the palace.

As a matter of fact, the movements in these two dances are an
artistic blend of movements made by men and animals in their
natural surroundings.

Srimpi is performed by four dancers and includes the kenyut
dance, which is for welcoming guests, the pandelori dance, which
depicts farmers' planting and harvesting rice, the pengantin
(Bride) dance, which is a unique dance performed during royal
weddings or for royal guests, for example when Sultan Hamengku
Buwono was visited by an in-law from Brunei Darussalam, and the
ronggowarsito and anglingdarma dances, which are performed during
the signing of treaties.

As for Bedaya, it is generally performed by nine dancers
during special functions. It includes the ruwatan dances such as
semang, astirmendung, and ketawang; the tanggon dances like
eling-eling, bedah madiun, and rengget; the sumarak/sumyah
dances which are for motivation, example erang-erang and
malang sumirang; the sulihwarna dances to promote culture like
the revolusi, tamenggati, sumilir, and kunir asem; the
sengsem tulis dances, which show how creativity is inspired by
good intentions, example bedaya Taman Siswa and amurwobumi; the
lukitasari dances, which is choreographed for the sake of
esthetics, example limaran,sanggariti and demak (besaran); and
murtiaji, which shows how big a kingdom is, example Mangkubumi,
handeg negari, and sekaten.

A Bedaya dance was performed in late October 2000 to celebrate
the 48th birthday of Kanjeng Ratu Hemas, the wife of Sultan
Hamengku Buwana X, at the Pagelaran Hall of the palace. The
dance, titled Sang Amurwo Bhumi, told the story of a meeting
between Ken Arok, king of Singasari, and Ken Dedes. Despite
different religions, both eventually got married. A Bedaya dance
was also performed in 1990 to commemorate the birthday of the
late Sultan Hamengku Buwana IX and mark the awarding of the title
of National Hero to the late sultan by then president Soeharto.

Although the Bedaya and Srimpi dances now involve ordinary
people and may be performed in public, many people still consider
them sacred, and in many respects they are still connected with
ritual and religious matters. This superstitious suggestion must
be abolished because in reality a dance is a beautiful body
movement intended to express a certain intention. Only with this
perception in mind can these two dances be popularized among the
public.