Ramayana ballet beautiful but fails to draw crowds

By Ahmad Solikhan

YOGYAKARTA (JP): In a dark room with white marble floors one suddenly heard the sounds of gamelan. It was a sign that the staging of the Ramayana ballet is about to begin.

Earlier, five minutes of slide films on Hindu cultural history were shown on a wide screen on the reliefs that decorate the walls of the Prambanan temple in Yogyakarta.

The myriad colors of the lights shone on the ballet dancers telling the story of Rama and Shinta. The scene depicted the newly-wed Rama and Shinta, along with Rama's step- brother Laksamana, roaming into the forest. Shinta was abducted by Rahwana, with the help of his friend who took the form of a kijang kencana (golden deer).

With the help of Hanoman, a white monkey, Shinta could be saved, but Rama rejected her because he was suspicious that she had been disgraced by Rahwana. In order to prove her purity Shinta burned herself but was saved from the flames thanks to the help of the fire god. It was a happy ending to the story. Spectators in the 360-seat capacity arena applauded the performance.

The 90-minute show was attractive in its blending of gamelan music, dance movements, role interpretations and the expressions of the dancers who told the story in detail, despite the limited time available. Moreover, the lighting supported the performance well. The spectators seemed to be hypnotized in their imagination by the world of wayang.

Stefanus Prigel Siswanto, 32, the director of the Kasanggit group, said the performance only needed 20 dancers and five gamelan musicians. Most of them were students at ISI's (Indonesian Art Institute) art dance school, IKIP (Teachers' College), Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta, STSI (the Surakarta Arts Institute) and local inhabitants of Prambanan.

The production of Rama and Shinta with the episodes Shinta Hilang, the Lost Shinta, Anoman Obong, the Burned Anoman, Kumbokarno Leno, the Lying Kumbokarno, and Shinta Obong, the Burned Shinta, normally lasting five hours, was reduced to 90 minutes.

The short performance was tailored according to its budget of Rp 550,000 per performance. Expenses included accommodation, purchase of make-up and stage costumes.

"There is no profit in it, rather a loss," said Siswanto, a teacher at the ISI Theater in Yogyakarta.

Dwi Handari, 27, who has played the role of Shinta for the past eight years as a member of the Kasanggit group, only received Rp 20,000 for her performance. Handari, a graduate of the Art Dance School of ISI, continues to be a Ramayana dancer as it is her hobby and she wants to preserve traditional culture expressions, to prevent them from being overrun by Western culture.

"I cannot rely on the fees I earn as a dancer. I work everyday at the PT Abilawa cattle farm, Gejayan, Yogyakarta," said Handari. She comes from Wonogiri, Central Java.

Sarbilan, head of marketing of Trimurti Theater Prambanan, confirmed the complaint, adding that the small number of spectators was the cause of these low wages.

The Ramayana is presented three times a week. The four groups participating in the performances are Cahyo Gumelar, Goa Wijaya, Wisnu Murti and Sekar Puri.

"We are financially responsible in case of a lack of spectators," Sarbilan said.

According to the schedule, a colossal performance involving 200 persons in the open theater is shown from May to October. An indoor performance with 150 participants takes place between November and April. Due to limited budget, however, the number of participating artists have been reduced to about 20 people or even less.

Admission tickets are cheap at Rp 10,000 to Rp 50,000. Besides there is a discount of 15 percent. Students in groups of at least 30 persons pay Rp 4,000 for each ticket.

The Trimurti Theater lags far behind other tourist destinations in Yogyakarta in attracting foreign and domestic tourists. In order that the Ramayana Ballet continues to exist, a cross-subsidy is organized with PT Taman Wisata Candi Prambanan, Borobudur and Ratu Boko. The theater management should lobby the Tourism Agency and the Tourism regional office, to promote the ballet through art and culture exchanges with other countries like Germany, Spain, China and Thailand. In this way tourists from those countries will also be channeled to the Ramayana Ballet.

"We sell only 75 tickets per performance on average," said Sarbilan.

Foreign tourists mostly come from Spain and Germany, while domestic tourists are from Bandung and Jakarta. Georgius Samuel, a Santa Maria junior high school student in Jakarta, seeing the Ramayana ballet for the first time said he felt strongly attracted to it.

Elly Sumarsih, the school's principal, who had brought 350 of her students to see the Ramayana Ballet that evening, said every year the school introduced its students to the rich cultural heritage of the country.

"It is not limited to the Ramayana Ballet. We go and see other cultural sites and performances," said Sumarsih.

Setiawan Kresnohadi, public relations officer of the Yogyakarta Tourism Agency, said tourist arrivals were down by 70 percent as a result of the last 2 years' political turmoil. Political conditions play a decisive role in tourist numbers. "The Trimurti Theater is not alone in this experience. Nearly all companies involved in art and culture in Yogyakarta have been affected," said Kresnohadi.

It is sad that the Ramayana Ballet with its magnificent costumes, ideal setting and professional dancers, is unable to attract more spectators.