'Ronggeng' struggles against changing times

'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ricik Banyumasan, have been replaced by popular campursari songs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.