Surabaya street dancer fights for livelihood
Surabaya street dancer fights for livelihood
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Street dancer Laksmi's heavily made up face glistens with
perspiration. The heat is stifling but the 42-year-old, who makes
a living performing the jaranan (traditional dance), barely
notices.
Arriving out of breathe due to the cumbersome tape recorder
used for her performance of the "welcoming" dance from
Tulungagung, the dancer benefits from a quick rest in a shady
spot nearby Surabaya's municipal council.
First, Laksmi plays her tape of traditional Javanese songs;
then she waves her red scarf, indicating that she is about to
begin.
A crowd gathers around her, some people give her money, moved
by the dance.
She hides the money in her clothing and heads off in search of
another suitable dancing venue.
It has been the same everyday since 1999, from 8 a.m. until
sunset Laksmi roams the streets of the overcrowded city of
Surabaya.
Though she is playing a key role in preserving the jaranan,
which is rarely performed today, money is the dancer's main
motivation.
"I'm exhausted but happy. My children are both in elementary
school and any money I make is put toward their education costs,"
said the woman, who earns Rp 20,000 (US$2.10) a day performing
the dance she learned in her hometown of Banyuwangi, about a 30-
kilometer ferry trip from Gilimanuk harbor, Bali.
Laksmi said she had worked at a factory in Surabaya in 1998,
but it closed when the economic crisis hit, leaving her jobless.
She became a street dancer as her husband's income -- as a
pedicab driver near the Joyoboyo bus terminal in Surabaya -- was
barely enough to feed the family. She sewed the dancing costume
herself with materials bought from money saved during her factory
stint.
Her family keeps moving from one place to another. At one time
they were evicted from their house in the slum area of Nginden,
Surabaya. They now live in a modest house near the old Joyoboyo
bus terminal on Jl. Wonokromo.
For others dancing is an art form, but for Laksmi it's a means
of giving her children a chance in life.