Then and now in classical Javanese dance

By Ong Hok Ham

JAKARTA (JP): The rich royal traditions of the palaces of Central Java, now all but a distant memory, were brought back to life in a recent performance of Javanese classical dances at the Gedung Kesenian Jakarta.

The event was organized by Panecwara, a dance group led by renowned classical dancers including Maruti, Sentot, Sulestyo and Trisapto.

The four dances, all from the Surakarta palace, were the Bedaya Duradasih (a sacred dance of nine female dancers); Perang- Tanding (a classical dance based on a duel); Gambyong (a solo performance by a female dancer) and a warrior dance of palace guards. The first two dances originated from the court of the kraton (palace), the third was a popular entertainment arrangement and the final one was a new composition.

The dances once served a particular function within court life, but this has inevitably been altered by the passage of time and the passing of the glorious palace era. The dances are now performed by descendants of the former palace dance troupes, who were forced to leave the kraton in search of a living after Indonesia's independence.

Sacred palace dances, such as the famed Bedaya, were considered magical sources of royal power and were also performed during battles in ancient times.

When battles were later replaced by diplomatic negotiations with representatives of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) or the Dutch governor of the Netherlands Indies, the ruler of Surakarta, known as the susuhunan, brought along his troupe of Bedaya dancers and a gamelan orchestra to perform at the place of negotiation. As the performance ensued, the ruler was able to focus his thoughts and preserve his strength for the negotiating table.

The performance, accompanied by a choir of female singers chanting Javanese texts of history and other pusaka manuscripts, had the ulterior purpose of distracting the Dutch representative from his original strategy.

The most sacred of the Bedaya dances is the Bedaya Ketawang. The dance is performed once a year, on a date determined by the Javanese calendar, to commemorate the coronation of the Susuhunan. The dance symbolizes the union of Javanese kings to the Goddess of the South Sea, who is believed to be the protector of Javanese royalty and the spiritual consort.

For the Bedaya Ketawang, the nine female palace dancers rehearse every Tuesday, the sacred kliwon on the Javanese calendar. The Surakarta palace still maintains this tradition although there are no longer the courtiers, or abdi dalem, to perform the dance. This is left today to the princesses of the palace itself.

The second highest ranking Bedaya dance is the Angling Mendung, performed to commemorate the dynasty founder's marriage to a princess of Madiun, a union which legitimized the kingdom of Senapati's rule over Mataram in Java. The Bedaya Duradasih, which was performed at Gedung Kesenian, is third in rank of sacred dances and takes inspiration from the Serat Centini.

The classical dances were integral in the ceremonies of the Javanese monarchy and a budget was allocated for dances and the arts.

Other performances were held if there were special palace guests or festivities such as to mark the new year, Idul Fitri and royal weddings.

The last great ruler of Surakarta was Paku Buwono X (l893- l939), the longest reigning monarch of the Mataram dynasty. There were 200 male and female dancers during his court's heyday.

He had 80 children, hundreds of grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren in his lifetime. He was a cultural hero of his time for many Javanese and is often called Raja-Panutup (the last great king of Java).

In the post colonial era, Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX (1921-39) of Yogyakarta became a hero for many conservative Javanese, as he legitimized the transition from a royal-colonial past to modern Indonesia.

The great days of royal culture effectively ended with the next ruler, Paku Buwono XI (l939-1944). His jealous consort, Ratu Paku Buwono, dismissed the 200 dancers. She was probably the most forceful woman in modern Javanese royal history.

The kraton civilization came to an end because everything revolved around personalities within the claustrophobic palace walls, and the focus was the queen.

One of the few vestiges of the traditions remaining today are the dances.

Palace grounds

Performances of palace dances were restricted to within its grounds for most of history. This changed when Sultan Hamengku Buwono VIII allowed Prince Tejakusuma to hold dances at his residence outside the palace in the 1930s.

Indonesia's independence and the sweeping societal upheaval that followed brought further relaxation of the rules on performances of the dances. The palace was beset by financial problems as subsidies did not keep pace with inflationary times. Many palace occupants suffered material losses during World War II and the ensuing fight for revolution, and were forced to look for a living outside in the offices of Jakarta and elsewhere. The diaspora of palace nobility to other cities led to the emergence of active and very talented Javanese classical dance groups.

The function of the dances has changed. During the palace era, the dances were part of state ceremonies and the audience paid little attention to the performance. They chatted and laughed, viewing it as a social occasion.

There have been adaptations for modern audiences, including shortening of the duration. The Bedaya Darudasih originally spanned from one to two hours, but was curtailed to just half an hour in the recent performance.

Probably the biggest change is in the audience members, who are no longer the leisure class of palace nobles. Viewers today are dance and art lovers from the urban middle class who revere the aesthetic value of the performances.