Sumatran dancers star in festival

Sumatran dancers star in festival

By K. Basrie

CIREBON, West Java (JP): This week's festival celebrating
Indonesia's royal courts featured glamorous dances and wedding
ceremonies from two former kingdoms in Sumatra and Kalimantan
yesterday.

The audience was not disappointed with the events on the
fourth day of the week-long palace festival.

Dancers from Sumatra's Palembang Darussalam Sultanane
impressed the audience, including relatives of the other royal
families attending the festival.

"The dances are so beautiful and rich in meaning and the
performers' costumes are so rich in color and style," said
Central Java art critic Fikri Sujana.

The Palembang Darussalam Sultanate opened with a dance titled
Gendhing Sriwijaya, which was performed by five women.

Accompanied by a four-piece traditional band, the dancers in
red and gold with decorative headdress, moved with graceful
slowness as they demonstrated the royal family welcoming
important guests.

The audience, including camera-laden tourists, were absolutely
gripped by the afternoon show at the Kasepuhan Palace.

But it was the second show that was most popular and brought
thunderous applause from the audience.

It was titled Pagar Keraton and depicted the royal pre-wedding
ceremony of a woman.

According to Palembang Darussalam tradition, the bride-to-be
should have her sisters' permission, as well as her parents', to
marry.

The performance demonstrated a ritual called Pagar Keraton, in
which the bride sits on a tray symbolizing that she will leave
soon.

Meanwhile, at the Kacirebonan Palace, Riau's Siak Kingdom awed
hundreds of people who had waited hours for the performance which
was heavily influenced by Moslem traditions.

The kingdom was founded in 1723 by Sultan Abdul Jalil
Rahmatsyah, the son of the King of Johor, who escaped from his
homeland.

The dances from this sultanate were the Zappin, Kipas and
Sentak Belang Kaki.

Their final number, Joget Lambak, involved inviting the
audience to dance on stage with the performers.

In the evening, dancers from two lesser-known kingdoms, the
Sultanate of Alwatzkubillah and Amantubillah Mempawah Palace in
West Kalimantan, showed their traditions.

Like their neighboring principalities, these two kingdoms
displayed the rich influence of Islam.

The Festival Keraton II, from July 1 to July 7, ends Monday
and all participants have agreed to hold the next biannual
festival in Bima in West Nusa Tenggara in 1999.

Today's venue (participant; time; location):

Ternate (Maluku); 02:00 pm - 05:00 pm; Kasepuhan Palace

Kasepuhan (host); 07:30 pm - 10:30 pm; Kasepuhan Palace

Kutai (East Kalimantan); 02:00 pm - 05:00 pm; Kacirebonan Palace

Bima (West Nusa Tenggara); 07:30 pm - 10:30 pm; Kacirebonan Palace

Events on every day (venue; time; location):

Heirloom display; 08:00 am - 07:00 pm; Kanoman Palace

West Java art show; 08:00 pm - finish; Kejaksaan Square,
Kebumen Square

Rulers' family tree exhibition; 08:00 am - 08:00 pm; Kasepuhan
Palace

FKN II Fair; 09:00 am - 10:00 pm; Kejaksaan Square

Source: FKN II organizing committee