School teaches rare classical dances

School teaches rare classical dances

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Javanese dances are taught in many schools or courses, but
learning the rare and classical ones that are created out of the
Yogyakarta Palace will certainly not be easy.

Siswa Among Beksa dance school might be the only school in
town which teaches Javanese classic dances in the Yogyakarta
Palace style.

Founded on March 12, 1952 by GBPH Yudonegoro, brother of the
then Yogyakarta's king Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, the school is
located at Jl. Kadipaten, some 100 meters west of the famous
Taman Sari water castle in the palace's complex.

"We only teach pure classical dances based on the works (of
the then Yogyakarta king) Hamengkubuwono VIII (1921-1938) that we
consider as the peak of the victory of Yogyakarta Palace style
dances. We do not teach academic classic dances," said the
school's head of education department Wibatsu.

What's more, the school is affordable, considering it provides
a very rare dance course. Each student is only required to pay a
Rp 3,000 monthly tuition fee for two meetings a week which last
an hour each plus an optional non-curricular course a week.

"Money is not what we are concerned with the most, but the
preservation of the palace style classic dances," said Wibatsu,
adding the school pays teachers only at Rp 1,500 per teaching
hour and it depends mostly on donor support.

The school was in fact initiated by Hamengkubuwono IX who set
it up in the 1940s as Bebadan Among Beksa, an institution
assigned to cater to people's wish to learn classical dances of
the Yogyakarta Palace like bedhaya dance. But, because it was
directly under the palace's authority, it could not act
independently, or perform freely, especially outside the palace
-- unless the king asked, and could not raise funds to finance
its activities or accept fees from a show.

With the king's agreement, his brother, Yudonegoro, set up the
Siswa Among Beksa to carry out the same task but it could act
independently. The school's dancers could now perform without
having to go through the complicated bureaucracy of the palace
and the king even allowed it to accept fees from performances,
something considered taboo when it was still under the palace's
authority.

The king really supported the school, and even sent the
school's dancers on a cultural mission to Europe in 1971,
visiting some 29 countries. He also appointed them to join the
Hong Kong Arts Festival the following year before sending them
for another cultural mission in 1973 to Japan.

The school's foundation itself was set up later on, in 1978,
to meet the needs of a more modern and programmed dance
curriculum. Wibatsu was appointed as head of the education
department while setting up the required curriculum as his first
task.

"Before, we conducted the dance course in a traditional
method. Now we have our own curriculum, which has been approved
by the Ministry of Education," said Wibatsu, a Javanese dancer
and choreographer himself.

Now, the school offers two dance classes: a four-semester
class for dancer candidates and a two-semester class for dancers.
The first class can be completed as scheduled within two years
time, but the one for dancers usually lasts longer, at least
three years.

"The class for dancers is really hard to finish, not just
physically but mentally as well," Wibatsu said.

Graduating from the class for dancer candidates is a must
before joining the dancer class. When in the class for
candidates, the teaching process is conducted generally, those
joining the dancer class are required to specialize with a
meguru, or mentor.

At for the class for dancers, the students are taught to
master and understand dance philosophies.

At least two philosophies are taught there. The first is the
general dance philosophy consisting of pandengan (eye sight),
polatan (body language) and pasemon (mimic). The second is the
so-called philosophy of Mataram (ancestor of Yogyakarta Palace)
dancing which comprises sawiji (total), greget (desire), sengguh
(self confidence) and ora mengkuh (perseverance).

"These philosophies will enable them to become true dancers
who can really perform a dance, that even without making a single
movement the audience can understand what they are trying to
tell, from the eye sight, body language, and mimicry," Wibatsu
said. At present the school has 20 teachers teaching at the class
for dancer candidate and nine at the class for dancers.

The class for dancers is more difficult and selective, and has
graduated less than 100 dancers in the last 21 years. Its
reputation goes further. The class only has 16 students -- all
female, while the class for dancer candidates has some 120
students.