Out of the dark ages, 'barongsai' roars back

By Anis Suryani

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Sugiman Aditama is a father of three teenagers and a born and bred Javanese.

He is also the head of the Association of Beskalan Barongsai Dragons, one of several barongsai dance groups which have been established in the advent of reform. He became familiar with the Chinese traditional performance from studying the Chinese martial art of wushu since 1971 at the Budi Abadi Club.

Evidence of the dance's return to the mainstream is the invitation for Sugiman and some of his friends to perform the barongsai at campaign events during the 1999 general election. Sugiman and his cousin Kliwon, who is also active in Budi Abadi, established Panbres in November 1999.

Sugiman said many barongsai troupes were established in Yogyakarta and in Central Java during the campaigns; there are now five groups in Yogyakarta.

The invitations continue to stream in, particularly since the launch of the cultural movement by President Abdurrahman Wahid in February 2000 at Yogyakarta's palace.

After years when any expression of Chinese culture was forbidden under Presidential Instruction No 14/1967, Presidential Decree No. 6/2000 ushered in a new era.

Panbres appears to be the best known and with the most performances. Its engagements in the past month included four wedding parties, the opening of a sports event and an art festival. It performs not only in Yogyakarta, but also in the Central Java towns of Semarang, Magelang, and Surakarta. It also had two performances lined up for the Lunar New Year, which fell on Jan. 24.

None of the group's 50 members, including 20 children, are of Chinese descent.

"One of our motivations in reviving the art is to prevent the children from getting involved in dangerous activities, like drugs," Sugiman said.

Exercises are conducted twice a week, every Thursday and Sunday. Thursday is for wushu exercises, while Sunday is reserved for the dance. "We try to balance the sport and art elements in the barongsai dance," said Sugiman.

Rituals

Unlike Panbres which has revived the dance for practical reasons, Budi Abadi Club is developing and preserving lion and dragon dances as part of traditional rituals. The club, which is also called Hoo Hap Hwee, also serves as an association for people of Chinese descent in the area, although many of its members are not Chinese-Indonesians.

It functions as the guardian for the preservation of the Chinese tradition, including the rituals of crematory, arts, and sports.

One of the chairmen of the club, Segin, said that since it was established in the early 1970s, the club has been consistent in its efforts to develop the samsi (lion) and liong (dragon) dances.

"That's why we call it samsi, and not barongsai, because in samsi, the dancers have to become the sould of the nine characters of a lion. Therefore, they are not just dancing but acting the characters of the lion," Segin said.

Barongsai, Segin added, mostly accentuates dance movements and acrobatics because it was originally meant to entertain.

"In samsi, on the other hand, the sacred side is the main part of the dance because it is indeed meant for a sacred ritual."

As part of a sacred ritual, the dances are rarely performed, at most twice a year for events such as the anniversary of a Chinese temple in the city.

"And to perform it, we have to get the permission of the club's elders, and sometimes we have to wait for a sign contained in a dream," Segin added.

There is a ritualistic process to the preparations, including in the making of the costumes and the performance itself.

"Both the costume makers and the dancers are required to fast, at least from meat," Segin said.

Without conducting a purifying ritual such as fasting, it is believed the safety of the dancers and the audience would be in danger.

Without conducting such purifying rituals, including the fasting, the safety of both the dancers and the audiences is believed to be threatened. "It's because samsi itself is meant as a way to avoid bad luck," said Segin.

The club is open to all.

"We no longer place restrictions on the members because of their background, like they have to be of Chinese descent," Segin said. "What's more important is that they master the basic principles of wushu. They have to be physically strong, too, because samsi requires strength.

"And most of all, they have to be willing to fulfill the requirement before performing the dances."