Out of the dark ages, 'barongsai' roars back

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."