'Ronggeng' struggles against changing times

Agus Maryono and Mamock Ng, Contributors, Banjarnegara, Central Java

The traditional dance of Banyumas, ronggeng or lengger, famous for its dynamic music and dance, is struggling to stay afloat on the tide of time.

Until very recently, ronggeng was widely performed in many villages, with ronggeng troupes hired to perform at wedding parties, village festivals and other special occasions, including traditional and religious ceremonies.

Now, however, people prefer to invite groups offering more contemporary performances, mainly campursari -- an innovative fusion of traditional and popular Javanese musical genre -- which has prompted several ronggeng troupes to adapt to the latest trend, leaving the traditional form behind.

"We've been forced to leave the traditional show behind to meet people's demands, otherwise, we won't survive," said Solichin, 57, leader of a ronggeng troupe in Kecitran hamlet, Purworejo village, Klampok subdistrict, Banjarnegara.

Bending to demand, Solichin has added modern instruments like electric guitars, a keyboard and even a drum set, to replace traditional instruments such as gongs, saron and kendang (a type of drum) that originally accompanied the troupe's calung, or bamboo instruments.

"In difficult times as these, we find it hard to stick only to authentic ronggeng. The show is now more like campursari," he said.

His troupe indeed faces difficult times, with not a single request for a performance over the past month, compared to an average seven to nine shows per month a few years ago.

The troupe, which performs for Rp 1.5 million per show, has been in business for many years, and its members are all life- long ronggeng performers -- they have no other source of income.

The troupe's dancers and singers are now having to master campursari and dangdut (popular music with Arab/Indian influences) songs and dance styles to cater to audiences with more contemporary tastes.

The songs of traditional ronggeng, like Randa Nunut and Ricik- ricik Banyumasan, have been replaced by popular campursari songs like Lingsir Wengi, Wes Ewes Ewes and Ing Taman Jurug.

"Campursari music, like dangdut, requires a higher level of endurance. It's more dynamic, and I just have to get used to it," said 27-year-old singer Suliah, who has been with Solichin's troupe since she was 16.

Another ronggeng troupe, the Ngudi Laras troupe from Merden village, Purwonegoro subdistrict, Banjarnegara, has also been faced with the option to either change with the times or become extinct.

Troupe leader Marsudi, 63, said the troupe felt they were quickly being left behind by campursari, something that had never happened before.

"There's been langgam (traditional Javanese genre), keroncong (popular music with Portuguese influence) and dangdut, but we hadn't been particularly influenced by them. But since campursari gained in popularity, we, like it or not, have been losing our audience to them," said Marsudi, who has been a ronggeng performer for 36 years.

A clear sign that the dance was losing its attraction, he said, was their audience's repeated and constant requests for campursari songs every time they performed.

"To be honest, my troupe has also been contaminated by campursari. But one thing for sure, we'll never stray from the ronggeng guidelines, like opening with the Gambyong Banyumasan dance and closing with the Baladewaan," he said with feeling.

Whenever the troupe performed, Marsudi tried his utmost to perform the opening and closing dances as in a traditional ronggeng performance. He also insisted on including the dance's signature song, Randa Nunut.

"We're afraid of being cursed if we cut the song from our show, because it's the song that gave birth to ronggeng."

Campursari has increasingly become popular in Java, thanks largely to Yogyakarta musician Manthous, who cleverly fused traditional Javanese songs with dangdut. In addition, campursari shows are aired on television featuring famous performers, such as Surakarta artist Didi Kempot.

Campursari, in its way, brings a breath of fresh air to Javanese songs. Yet, for Solichin and Marsudi, and maybe many other ronggeng artists, it is considered a real threat to their existence.

While troupes with enough money -- who can afford modern musical instruments -- can survive, this survival comes at the cost of authenticity; and those troupes that are less well off face a bleak future of either disbanding entirely or performing door-to-door to make a living.

Head of culture at Banjarnegara's educational office Otong Tjundaroso said 112 ronggeng troupes existed in the regency in 2001. Today, only two years since, about 75 percent of them remain -- but after abandoning the original ronggeng for campursari. The others have either disbanded or are performing from door to door.

Otong also noticed that even the graceful movements of lengger became more dynamic, even erotic, when the singer belted out campursari songs quite similar to dangdut.

He said no precise "formula" had yet been found to protect traditional ronggeng from extinction.

"We have been providing supervision to preserve traditional performances, but we also need to conduct more research to see whether the decrease in ronggeng's popularity is really because of campursari, or because of a general reluctance to watch traditional performances," he said.