TEACHING INDONESIAN DANCES BY A NON-INDONESIAN TEACHER

I took classes and practice at ISI-Jogja, NDalem Kanoman, NDalem Pujokusuman, Puro Pakualaman, and was admitted to practice classical dances at Kraton on Sundays. I did my first performance of the Javanese dance Klana Raja at Bangsal Kraton Sri Manganti and became the first Ecuadorian who danced and practiced there.
Cuenca, Ecuador (2018). Performing Klana Raja, Javanese dance.

From 2017 to present, I have collaborated with the Indonesian Embassy, taking the Indonesian dances and culture all over my country, participating in festivals, exhibitions and cultural events; performing Indonesian dances and giving short workshops (anklung, batik, seminars). In 2018 we opened the Indonesian Dances Club and months later the Gamelan Club where I have been the instructor so far. In this year I produced the dance program “Topeng” performing Klana Topeng Sewandono and the created play “Bujang Ganong and the Andean Spirit” where I fused dance masks from Ecuador and Indonesia. The Ecuadorian audience had the chance to appreciate for first time the Indonesian masks and their dances.

Nevertheless, my proudest achievement was the opening for first time in Ecuador of the Indonesian Dances Club in collaboration with the Embassy in 2018. It was my first experience teaching these dances to my countrymen and now I proceed to tell you about this club, the difficulties I found teaching the dances and my achievements so far.

The Indonesian Dances Club in Ecuador

Honestly, I did not know how to start teaching Indonesian Dances to Ecuadorians. I remember asking myself: “Are they going to enjoy these dances? How to teach the

technique (hand positions, postures) knowing that our bodies differ in flexibility and besides, they had never been aware of Indonesian dances at all? How about the Indonesian music structure, its rhythm, cadence, kendang cues, etc., are they going to understand these new patterns?” These and other questions were in my mind. Around 10 students joined the classes in the first period. My classes were set on Fridays and lasted around two hours. I started relating them how I fell in love with Indonesian dances and my experience there to catch their interest. In the first classes I focused on preparing their bodies to the various techniques: the chief hand positions used in the different styles/regions, muscle strengthening specially for legs positions, eyes training and basic steps. I also made up some dance phrases combining different postures to make them familiar with the dances and rhythm.

Students of the Indonesian Dances Club after a performance of Indang Dance (Sumatra) in a Cultural Program representing the KBRI-Quito.

Afterwards some sessions I started teaching my first dance: Tari Indang (Badinding) from Sumatra. I chose it for it is colorful, rhythmic and an easy dance to be played in group with coordinate movements. It took me around two months until they memorized and assimilate the dance. The next step was preparing them for a trial performance in front of Ecuadorian audience. Along with the Embassy, we set the date and program. They were nervous, excited but good-willing to perform this dance. I taught them how to make up and how to wear the costume with the help of Vera Rusli. They did it quite well in the performance. The Indonesian Embassy staff and me were very proud of this first achievement.

Once finished Tari Indang, I taught them Ondel-ondel (Betawi), Marpangir and Rantak (Sumatra), and the Mataya Flashmob Wanara (Jogjakarta). I admit that is difficult to have a regular dance group in my country, some people left and some others join; six students were the average. Their learning process is slow; it takes them various lessons to learn the technique and memorize the phrases, and when the music starts, they get easily lost with the rhythm and counting. Kesabaran, patience is the key word when teaching to non-indonesian students. I must be very thorough and clear, and teach the movements step by step, and sometimes reproduce them is slow- motion. Even when I do not count when dancing, to teach them I have to use counting and being emphatic with beats and cues, specially with the drum (kendang) cues which they are not familiar at all. As we do not have a mirror, I do the mirror role. Mirroring the dances was a true challenge for me, it was like learning the dance all over again to reproduce it as the mirror side. In every lesson they learn two or three phrases, no more because they tend to forget them for the next class.

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