Urban lifestyle inspires 'Forbidden Passion'

Urban lifestyle inspires 'Forbidden Passion'

Mehru Jaffer, Contributor, Jakarta

Ideas continue to be juggled and much sweat is being shed as
Forbidden Passion prepares to kick off the city's dance season
this year.

Put together by members of the very avant garde Eksotika
Karmawibhangga Indonesia (EKI), the 60-minute-long performance is
divided into four compositions, with each piece attempting to
communicate to the audience issues that the dancers consider
absolutely essential.

For choreographer and dancer Rusdy Rukmarata, 40, it is of the
utmost importance to know what young people are thinking today.

Society may find it difficult to accept their desires but we
still have to be aware about what it is that youngsters hold most
sacred in life, feels Rusdy, himself a father and founder of EKI.

Rusdy insists it is not true that to be modern is to be
western. He is quick to remind us that Indonesia was greatest
when it had been unafraid in the past and passionate about
embracing cultures and peoples from other parts of the world.

In those ancient times, Indonesia was already forward-looking
and modern. Today, he sees his country bogged down by too many
divisions in society and rites and rituals. Instead of helping
them, many of the outdated traditions and customs confuse and
frustrate youngsters and often force them into antisocial
activities.

So he calls as many youngsters as he can to come to him. They
are encouraged not just to dance with him but he takes time out
to talk to them and together they learn how to best express their
respective feelings through dance.

If they really want to they are even able to stay at the EKI
compound, which has a boarding school for all those who love
theater and dance. The idea is not to perform and to forget, but
to live and practice the arts in one's day-to-day life. The
ultimate goal is to be a good artist as well as a good human
being, and to be loving and giving all the time.

It bothers Rusdy that so many teenagers in Jakarta feel so
alienated from their surroundings today.

He regrets the gang wars between different schools and
neighborhoods. He tries talking to as many young people as
possible before choreographing their dreams, anger and
aspirations into dance.

The opening sequence of Breath is a fast-paced flurry of
movements performed to the tune of a hypnotic piece of music
composed by Sujiwo Tejo, the resident music director of EKI.

Sujiwo's voice is a swaying chant similar to priestly
invocations to the gods from past civilizations. Sometimes it is
like the sound of thunder, at other times like the rustling of
wind among bamboo groves. Rusdy has tried to weave the dreams of
young people into modern movements to match the ancient sounds as
old as life itself.

Rusdy, an alumni of the London Contemporary Dance School,
appears on stage in Children of Revolution with many a martial
movement that hints of rebellion at every nook and cranny. But
even a little scratch at all the sound and fury behind the torn
jeans and metal jewelry reveals just a simple desire of young
people to be allowed to be themselves.

The Tie is a somewhat humorous look at all the raw passion
that is hidden behind the sophisticated black-and-white lifestyle
of the white-collar workforce. What happens when the very
important board of directors and chief of executives decide to
let the tie fly away with the sparrow? Popular electronic music
along with traditional percussion sounds combine to raise many an
eyebrow.

Domestic Issue is a 20-minute-long piece of choreography by
Chichi Kadijono who has been teaching modern dance at EKI since
1997. Along with her younger sister, Chichi initially learnt both
Balinese dancing and ballet. But, as an adult, it is modern dance
that still attracts her. The pixie-faced Chichi trained at the
Dance University of London and for two years worked with Yul
Bryner on stage for The King and I.

Back in Jakarta and under pressure from the family, Chichi
felt six years were not long enough to be in London. She has been
in Jakarta since 1981, often regretting having left Europe.

Now 47 years old, Chichi almost gave up dancing, but now
enjoys her role as teacher and choreographer. But she is sorry
that so few people want to learn modern dance. This is a pity as
modern dance is highly expressive and allows liberation from
repetitive and tutored movements.

As she gets older she finds herself a little more interested
in traditional dance, particularly percussion-based dances from
West Sumatra. The politics of the day leave her uninspired and
she feels that her work will probably remain the same despite the
tremendous economic and political changes that have taken place
around her in recent times.

Domestic Issue, the fourth piece to be performed as part of
Forbidden Passion is choreographed by Chichi. It is a piece that
is inspired by the day-to-day routine of her personal life and is
also a typical example of her increasingly mature role as a
choreographer.

Forbidden Passion will be performed on March 27 and March 28 at 8
p.m., Taman Ismail Marzuki. Tel: 8313029/3154087