Ramayana ballet beautiful but fails to draw crowds

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.