'Reog' art form reawakens Sundanese traditions

'Reog' art form reawakens Sundanese traditions

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung, West Java

Four housewives appeared on stage in elegant traditional long- sleeved kebaya blouses and batik kain skirt-wraps with bun hairdos. Sundanese drums strapped to their waists, they wiggled and swayed comically under the full moon as they sang a mock- heroic Sundanese song, Teuhoncewang.

The heavy drums were no trouble for the supple women at the Dago Cultural Park in Bandung on Saturday. The rhythm of the opening music was a prelude to their jokes known as the reog. But before the comedy, the audience -- a mixture of foreigners and locals -- had to join a prayer called the ngarajah. One member of the group, uttered Bismillahi Rahmannirrohim (in the name of God the Merciful) to begin the prayer.

She then appealed to the spectators, mostly Sundanese speakers, to remember that the world was simply a stage and that the life hereafter was more important. After this traditional reminder, the comedy sluice was let loose. As they listened to the women's long, eloquent chat, the hundreds of people crowding the stage laughed until they could barely stand.

The Indonesian, Western and local pop songs presented in the intervals added another flavor to the public entertainment.

The reog form of comedy has recently been rediscovered after being in "suspended animation" since the 1970s. Cemplon, Bu RT (head of the neighborhood administration), Gembul and Buntet are members of Gembol, a reog group from Babakan Rahayu, Kopo, Bandung -- one of around 300 troupes now thriving in West Java.

In reog history, Gembol is seen as more of a manifestation of the traditional art. The group of housewives, who happen to be sisters -- born Nina, Popon, Ihat and Yuyu -- have already won the Bandung and West Java reog contests in 2002 and 2004 respectively. In the Dago Park show, they performed for more than two hours, not only to entertain, but also to declare to the Sundanese society that the old comic art continued to exist.

Philosophy

The derivation of the name reog is unclear. It's has a name in common with East Java's reog ponorogo, a legend-based tiger-mask dance. Others believe that the name is shortened from the reorganisasi ogel (reorganized singing-comedian show), while still others say that it originates in reak, another West Java art and another idea is that it has developed from the words ugal-igel (roughly translated as the "giggly jiggle").

Whatever the origins, West Java Reog Art Association head Endang Taryana says that reog in the region of Sunda is inseparable from the spread of Islam, and began in the 16th century when the religion first took hold there. At that time, most of the Sundanese embraced animist beliefs and frequently worshiped kawung (sugar palm) trees, which were considered sacred.

"The mission of Islam to straighten out such misconceptions started with the felling of kawung trees, which were turned into dogdog or drums now used by four reog players. Later they served as instruments to disseminate Islam in West Java," Endang told The Jakarta Post.

The drums carried by four comedians are called talingtit, tong tong, brang-brang and badublag. The four act as the dalang or director, the deputy -- who controls jokes like a referee -- and two assistants -- who tell most of the jokes. Drums indicate the ranks in the reog group. The director carries the lightest, the 20-cm talingtit, with three others carrying the tong tong (25 cm), brang-brang (35 cm) and badublag (45 cm) respectively.

Popular until the 1960s, all-male reog groups often collaborated with other traditional Sundanese musicians, with gongs and flutes often added to the ensemble. In the 1950s, many reog troupes rose to fame in West Java, notably Tunggal Wargi under Amin Mihardja and Reog Ajendam led by Dase.

Gembol has further updated its musical section by adding two guitars and a violin to their drums to fill the need of diatonic notes, so that all seven modern tones can be used and the shortage of the pentatonic notes in Sundanese instruments is covered. A means of religious propagation, according to Endang, reog artists still retain Al-Quran verses and Islamic songs, along with the ngarajah prayer and moral messages.

The blend of traditional and modern elements was apparent when Gembol presented the song from private TV broadcaster Indosiar's Akademi Fantasi talent show, followed by West Java's typical jaipongan dance, in what was a peculiarly novel and very amusing show.

Four decades of slumber

The persecution of communists from the mid-1960s meant reog fell out of favor. Endang said the art suffered after some players in 1965 joined the People's Art Institute (Lekra), regarded as the Indonesian Communist Party's art body. After that "many artists refused to perform the reog for fear of being seized (by authorities) as communists," Endang said.

The stigma was so strong that even when the national TVRI station in 1967 tried to remove the negative image by regularly airing reog shows, boosting the popularity of a new group, Mang Diman Cs, and including the art-form's first female member, the revival of reog was overwhelmed by the emergence of new comic groups in the 1970s called calung, which used bamboo musical instruments.

It was not until more than 20 years later, that Endang was prompted to restart a reog competition in 2002. Unexpectedly, 32 troupes joined the contest, mostly this time with female members.

The event aroused public interest and further increased the number of reog players. So far, some 300 groups are currently operating in West Java. Traditionalist groups without modern musical instruments can still be found in the Kuningan region. "Now reog has been reunited with its enthusiasts. In a month, Gembol stages around eight shows for ceremonies in several West Java cities," Endang pointed out.

To refresh people's memories of other old Sundanese arts, according to Endang, such performances are usually presented before reog begins: Cikeruhan, combination of jaipongan and pencak silat -- traditional martial arts; kohkol atum (whole- bamboo music) and buncis (combination of bamboo music and drums).

And thanks to hilarious groups like Gembol, a traditional art form is popular again.