Unmasking the traditions of 'Topeng Cirebon'

Unmasking the traditions of 'Topeng Cirebon'

Text and photos by Helly Minarti

YOGYAKARTA (JP): She kicks her skinny leg with fierce power
and hurls her red-chiffon shawl (selendang) to rip the air. She
waves her arms alternately, staccato-style, in amazingly brisk
movements. Her head shakes furiously and then comes to a sudden
and precise stop.

The audience, mostly international tourists, gasped in awe. A
handful of reporters came closer to follow her movements with
their clicking cameras and flashing lights. And the surprises
were not over yet. She then bent her knee down in preparation to
perform the classic galeong -- the trademark of her dancing style
-- by rotating her upper body back almost 360 degrees.

Bear in mind that Sawitri, the Cirebon masked dancer from
Losari, a regency on the border of east and west Java, is 70
years old.

Sawitri, or Mak (Grandma) Sawitri as she is affectionately
called by her students, has been dancing since she was nine years
old. She is the sixth generation descendant of Dato Kunten, the
patriarch of Losari, which is the home to one of the most famous
traditions of Cirebon's masked dance. She learned the dance
directly from her father Sumitra.

On last Sunday's clear night she didn't perform at a modest
local feast in her village, nor at a grand hall as she has
several times since the world began to recognize her talent and
the dance.

The venue was the Javanese style restaurant in Jogja Village
Inn, a cozy, artistic small hotel on Yogyakarta's outskirts.

With tickets costing Rp 15,000, a high price for the small
town, only 51 people came to this rare performance of mask
theater. The dance mistress was accompanied by her unique trio of
dancers -- her grandaughter Taningsih, Monica Wulff, a German-
Australian, and Didik Nini Thowok, a popular dancer who gained
fame through his own choreographed comedy dances.

"This is a spontaneous cooperation between my recently
established foundation, Yayasan Didik Nini Thowok, and the inn to
support the traditional dance," Didik said.

The masked dance of Cirebon has many distinct styles,
distinguished by movements and accompanying music, and named
after the villages where they originated. The Losari style is one
of the most significant since it developed unique choreography
from the Selangit, Ciwulung or Gegesik versions. Most of the
dances are based on the Ramayana or Mahabharata epics, with the
adventures of Prince Panji, a knight, among the most popular
sources of material.

In the past there were numerous styles. Now, due to inevitable
modernization, they have declined and only a few dances remain.
The performance presented three examples of the Losari and one of
Ciwulung, plus an entertaining new dance by Didik Nini Thowok.

The repertoire

Monica Wulff, who has studied the masked dance on and off
during her frequent visits to Indonesia since 1992, opened the
performance with the Losari Pamindo, representing Panji. Wearing
a white mask -- a symbol of purity -- her feet glided gently on
the floor while her body, hands and fingers vibrated with equal
tenderness.

Taningsih danced the second part, Tumenggung. The character
symbolizes the powerful ruler. Wearing a white mask, she moved
briskly and powerfully. The typical head movement accentuates the
aura of Tumenggung (Regent) Magangdiraja. The white mask is
sometimes interpreted as a symbol of Western colonial power from
the 18th century to the 20th. In this version, Tumenggung's white
mask symbolizes the political authority invested in regents by
the colonists.

Didik Nini Thowok then presented the only non-Losari mask
dance, Rumyang. Didik, who studied the dance directly with the
renowned Madame Sudji, showed the exquisite movements from his
long training in various dances. Rumyang represents another
knight with more refined, almost effeminate traits. At a glance,
his movements behind his blue mask were delicate and simpler than
previous pieces.

"I can't say that a certain style is easier than others
because every style has its own uniqueness," Didik said.
"Ciluwung or Palimanan is so rich with small details and they're
not so easy."

Didik's basic dance background is in Sundanese, Javanese and
Bali dances, but he deliberately tries to expose himself to other
traditional works. And he is now expanding his scope by learning
the Losari style from its principal exponent, Sawitri.

Sawitri finally got her turn to show her legendary experience
and the self-journey from what her ancestors left to her. As
always, she began her dance with a short prayer. "I pray to the
Almighty and also ask for blessings from my karuhun (ancestors),"
she said.

Klana or Kelana Banopati, the masked character she portrayed,
represents the Rahwana, the notorious giant in the Ramayana epic.

All eyes were on Sawitri in her deep red mask. Her seemingly
fragile thigh barely quivered as she lifted one of her legs and
held it for a few moments. She also easily moved from swinging
her legs wildly in the air to returning them still to the floor.
Her sinewy arms moved up and down at blink-like speed in time to
the gamelan music.

Didik Nini Thowok closed the night with an encore performance
of own creation, a comedy dance using a mask, entitled Topeng
Walang Kekek. Didik wore a shocking pink kebaya paired with a
silvery-blue long skirt and the Javanese hairbun. He topped it
off with an outrageous pair of yellow plastic glasses that would
have made Elton John proud.

The dance was a humorous portrayal of the passage of youth and
old age in a woman's life. As the young woman, Didik coquettishly
stretched long feminine fingers, moved his arms energetically and
threw soulful looks with his heavily made-up eyes. He
occasionally made a deliberately awkward or comic movement to
upset the elegance of the austere classical routine. He followed
his dynamic and skillful Jaipongan turn with moonwalking made
famous by Michael Jackson.

The audience was particularly amused when he changed the sleek
black hairbun for a gray one for the old woman role, contrasting
her zest for life with her body's inability to keep apace.

Last Sunday's performance was followed by a mini workshop in
which the audience could ask questions. The interesting queries,
several audience members put through simple dance paces by the
dancers and a friendly photo session ended the evening nicely. It
was a serious discussion of a dying part of the Cirebon masked
dance but in an amusing and relaxed manner. It had depth but was
not too heavy to cast a shadow over the evening.