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.