Last weekend I met up with Phodi and Mussa at the Indonesian Festival in Melbourne.
I made many photos of the events, including some traditional dance performances.
Unfortunately the camera has been on a few too many adventures and it was not working so well.
Anyway, here are the pictures I made of the traditional dances.

Thx for uploading the pics, Ralf. From the look of the costume and the movements, my guess these are new creation dances....

^^ yes that's what i was thinking.
That is what makes indonesia so interesting. Not only that it can be proud of its culture (in this case, dances) but the latter is in perpetual evolution and movement. indonesian culture is so dynamic, because indonesians contribute in the enrichment of their culture..

Fantastic pictures Ralf,

The Magnificent Royal Exhibition Building backdrops the equally spectaculars Indo cultural performances/traditional dances.
Who are the dancers are they local artists/students?
Btw next time you should submit your Indo related pictures for photo competition in the festival
who know, you might win big prize.

Oh you've already made the new one, Ralf. Thanks for sharing
So how was the event? Did it attract foreigners?

Yes, because the old Indonesian dance thread was dead; and it only had about three or four posts anyway, by banned members and one comment by purnomor (who is sadly no longer here).

Foreigners ?
One man's foreigner is another man's local.
How does the song go Dutch ? .... We are one, but we are many....
Australia is a "foreigner" country.... unless you are Aborigine. The Aborigines are the only ethnic group who have been settled in Australia for a significantly longer time than any of us "foreigners". So yes indeed, there were many many foreigners at the Indonesian Festival. Sorry furansizuka, I certainly do not mean to make fun of you, I just want to make it clear to all members that Australia is a very diverse country. Australia is much more diverse than any Asian country that I have ever visited. At the festival was Gu a Chinese mate from work; there was my good friend Mussa from Africa and of course me from Germany; there was Melia my Indonesian friend from Warung Gudeg; there was one Anglo Aussie jazz band; there were American tourists; Indian businessmen checking out the import stalls; there were plenty of Indonesian men with white-skinned wives; there were Aussies of English origin; and of course plenty of young Indonesians, both Christian and Muslim. The venue was not packed full, but as you can see from the photos, there was a pretty good crowd. Everyone went wild when the Indonesian rock band hit the stage. Check the pix in the Indonesian Rock Bands thread and you will see that the crowd was not just of Indonesian origin.

You know the Exhibition Building ?
JoeRagan are you in Melbourne ? Did you see me at the gig ? You should have come over and said "Hi".
As for the dancers, I am not sure if they are local or on tour from Indonesia.

Thanks for your observation. I am sure that you can help me keep this topic vibrant in future. I really don't know anything about the whole dance culture. So I am relying on other members for input. That's it my fellow AFers, go out and see some live performances and write about your experiences and post your photos.

Bravo !!
That's it exactly.
Culture is not just for the museum - It is alive !

Hi Ralf
the Indonesian festival was good and people was happy with a lot of costume colors . There was many diffrent ethnic groups.

forgive my ignorance, Ralf. I was thinking with my local perspective. Yes I knew the wizard of Oz is very diverse yet I always forget that it doesn't only consisted of white men.

Yes there is black man too.
Many people here.

Hiya Mussa! You're that Mussa Ralf always talked about?

yes

Man-of-a-thousand-words, why don't you write more ?
In my house you never stop talking, but here you don't want to write anything.
Mussa I have shown you many Indonesian films and some culture.... what do you think of it and how does it compare to dance in Eritrea, or Norway, since you spent half your life there ?
OK then, do you remember who did that famous Eritrean independence song called Shigey Habuni ?

no

since 1990 i was gone from my country.
I have no contactr with the old country
the system is corrupted they deswtroy everything

Thanks Mussa, but I was hoping you would feel inspired to write something cultural.... something about the festival you saw, or something about the old days before it all blew to hell.

Glad to have you here, Mussa. Our government is also notorious for being corrupt but we love our beautiful country nevertheless

I wish I can catch and watch Borobudur Masterpiece Dance....




















Photo credit: Yogyes.com

Yeah it would be awesome to watch that dance event right in the middle of the ancient temple.
For those DownUnder who are interested in going, even the travel agents in Melbourne have information about this event.
From what I have read, this dance performance tells the story of the building of Borobudur and the mythology surrounding it.

Thanks for sharing mas Maja,

This dance masterpiece event has elevated the merging n blending of foreign n indigenous cultural concepts to the next level.
The energy of the dancers movements and the ferstive garden party contrast the quietude of magnificent Borobudur in the background.
Indeed, no better way to express the uniqueness of the Javanese genius. That it is.
I can only imagine King Syailendra himself would had been envious!

Btw. excuse my ignorance, kenapa "nampaknya" Angkor lebih dikenal di banding Borobudur/Prambanan yah ?
maksudnya kaya nya lebih banyak buku2/photo essay ttg Angkor yg ditulis org asing, gitu.
Dimana sih letak perbedaan/persamaan bangunan2 tsb ?

Well..., we Indonesians must admit that Angkor is far more grander and majestic than Borobudur or Prambanan....
The scale of Angkor itself is enormous.

I mean... my boss whom has visited Angkor said:
"I used to think Borobudur and Prambanan is the largest candi (temple) ever built, but the scale, symetry, and the grandeur of Angkor Wat wins handsdown.... The carving too is exquisite."

However in my oppinion, the art and aesthetics of ancient Java Sailendras is far more subtle and beautiful than the Angkor Khmer counterparts.
Just compare these two Apsaras


Apsara of Borobudur



Apsara of Angkor


IMO Apsara of Borobudur is more subtle, dynamic, and natural in body pose rather "stiff" pose of Angkor Khmer sculpture.

http://www.shvoong.com/humanities/1650608-...robudur-temple/
what is beneath borobudur temple?


I heard the same story from senior fine artist in surabaya,
that beneath borobudur temple laid a sexual and sadistic reliefs and story. is that true?

Tengkiu mas Maja.

Yay, that asparas was prolly our ancestor version of Bhasky's thread of hot tropical girls in underwear, they were voluptuous and montok di banding ama Angkor's
and yes their bod pose were more graceful, expressive n still fine despite the passage of time.
Imagine those poor stone carver had to go thru looking at his live aspara models layin almost nakid in front of them day in n day out.

And I don’t doubt if the bass relief hidden under ground contains some sordid sexual scenes.

Yes, Angkor is an amazing metropolis, its greatness is beyond imagination! A majestic creation of humankind that rightfully begets awe as a masterpiece.

But if we're talking about art, hehehe... As I've already talked about before, our carving style is even more natural and beautiful than the carvings in India!

And it is a great place for some dance theatre and traditional roots music.
Australia has Tamworth and Port Fairy Folk Festival for roots music and Indonesia has Borobudur.
Is anybody planning on going there to see the performance ?

The lower level of Borobudur was carved with Karmawibhanga. The story of Karma, the cause and source of suffering in Buddhist beliefs. Not necessary sexual and sadistic, even the sins was potrayed in subtlety.

Actually we still can see the hidden Karmawibhangga reliefs. Still in Borobudur archaeological park, we can found Karmawibhangga museum that displayed Karmawibhangga relief photos.
The real reliefs now covered in Borobudur additional stone foot, made during the latest stage of its development in ancient times. Probably as additional bearer to hold the temple from collapsing.

The sins displayed here are varied, even hunter and fisherman's work are considered as sin, and they'll suffer in Buddhist hell (depicted in relief), like being cooked or fried in large frypan.
The example of act of sin such as, stealing, killing, even abortion is displayed in the Karmawibhangga reliefs.

Oh yeah... I'm in Jogja now...

Yesterday just watched Ramayana Ballet at Prambanan Trimurti open air stage.
Here's the pic:



The show was awesome....
And the woman dance as Shinta IS beautiful....

Now, now mas Maja wouldn’t you wish to be the Sultan, would you?
In not so ancient time the Slutan with his posse would watch a group of beautiful court dancers perform the sacred serimpi choreography
in the kraton golden hall where jasmine petals scattered all over the floor.
And then he would just pick up one of the pretty dancer of his choice should he desires her to be his future consort, yea you wish mas maja.

Oh Majjy you lucky bastard! Ajak2 dong!

Power, fame, riches, and beautiful women.... who could resist it...

In Taman Sari originally Sultan would sit in tower overlooking the pool through the window. While in the pool lots of his consorts bathing nekid . He would just throw a flower upon his desired one, then the selected consort would enter the tower where there's a bed with fragrance incense burner underneath it. Whoa hedonism Javanese ancient Sultan's way.



Hehe... I go to Jogja for working trip.
Dinas kerjaan kantor Mas...
Lagian enak juga sih..., itung2 liburan dan jalan2 dibayarin kantor.

Bade ngiring...? Mau ikut...? we could share room y'now...?
del gonna die in jealousy... haha..
ahum...., just kiddin.

Okay more pictures:

The dancers

Ayunee...., Aren't they beautiful

Trijata (Rahwana's nephew) and Lakshmana (Rama's younger brother)

IMO the man played as Lakhsmana is look better than the one took role as Rama (rather not goodlookin methink)... poor casting...?

Ikuuut! I'm serious, Majjy, gw mau bgt ikut! More pics, pls!

Okay... sekarang gambar dulu yah... more pics...
I love takin picture, sorry if rather out of focus, keterbatasan kemampuan kamera, i don't have zoom lens.


Shinta being seduced by the cuteness of demon deer sent by Rahwana




Shinta accompanied by Trijata and palace lady servants in Argasoka park at Alengka royal palace.



Hanoman fight demon guard of Alengka palace

Good stuff Majapahitans
Quick downloads of info and pix are nice, but even better is when members of Asia Finest go out and experience a live show for themselves.
I always encourage AFers to go out and see a live band or any kind of live performance or public event.
Unfortunately the Asian Live Music topic I started is dead. In this "push button" world it seems the effort to go out is too much for some people.
I can tell that is not the case with you Majapahitans.
Thanks for sharing your photos and story.

You're welcome.
Just like you, I just love to experience live performance and share it with you guys.

Thanks for the pics, majjy.... A bit too big, but thx to that we can see all the pretty little details....

i hv a question... when u look at these traditional dances, what are u looking for really? is it the playing out of the Ramayana story?

^I was lookin for the obvious, the pretty face, n then the impressively
elegant coordinated movement of the limbs/facial expression,
colorful dresses/props and the magical gamelan music.
And then maybe trying to understand the story they are conveying/interpreting
like the battle between good vs. evil or the visualization of various characters of human beings
the good, bad n ugly.

My camera problems are getting worse.
All the pix I made of the dance performances at the Melbourne Indonesian Film Festival turned out fuzzy and in strange colour renditions.
Some images only recorded a green layer. I guess I will need to work some overtime to afford a new digital camera.
As much as I like the camera Dewi gave me, I think we have dropped it once too often.

Entertainment...,
But in a good way, since its also presents moral value and various aspects of human emotions; love, war, hate, betrayal, envy, pride, etc.
Btw yes... its the play of Ramayana story.

First, I think many people love good story: The brave knight in searching of his lost beautiful wife that being abducted by the evil demon king. The battle involving humans and mythical creatures; giants (denawa), monkey people (wanara) and eagle people (garuda).
The Ramayana epic itself is enchanting and capture our imagination since more than a millennia ago. The elaborate tale of love and war, presented in graceful, beautiful, and vigorous dances in colorful costumes.

@ ralf, change the film speed to ASA400 for sports action and you won't get shaky pictures, and maybe the white balance is a little off, so juz rebalance it..

@ majjy, is Ramayana played out in India the same way as in Indonesia?? I wonder if Malaysia still emphasise on the Ramayana plays anymore?

I appreciate the advice. Even though I was a photographer during the age of dinosaurs, I am new to digital cameras.
However this camera which Dewi gave me has been on many adventures in jungles, mountains and cities and underwater....

I set the camera for low light mode, did white balance, tried flash mode.... still got mixed results.
Sometimes it is OK. Other times it is terrible.

Cute little kids in Indonesian Traditional Dress called Kebaya


more kebaya pics









The one in this picture looks similar to Vietnamese ao dai

OMG the kid #43 reminds me so much of this lady

@Tav6: OMG, I burst into laughter!! (and still laughing...)

@Xigon: I think some of them are wearing things other than Kebaya

@Bhas: I just noticed something awfully illogical about your siggy. They all have really big heads that the Bruneian girl can spread her arms wide open without touching her veil/kerudung!! That's amazing!! And how can the Vietnamese girl comb her own hair when she can't even reach some of them???!! Now, I see why these 10 girls are not standing in one same row; parno nanti kejedot!!

oh sorry
pardon me for my ignorance

^No, you don't have to be sorry for anything! I might've sounded harsh, because I just wanted to type quickly. Kebaya is usually semi-transparent and body-tight.


Here, only the girl in red is wearing Kebaya. The other two are wearing Javanese traditional clothing (don't know what it's called) and the girl in the back seems to wear Flores traditional clothing (can't really tell).



The guy and girl in blue are wearing the traditional Buginese outfits for wedding like this one here:



All these regional outfits are not Kebaya. Kebaya is worn by women throughout Indonesia and not only in a particular region. It has become the national Indonesian dress for women, whereas Batik is for men.

What's the difference between the red one and the black ones? They look similar to me

Sorry to interrupt anakjakarta, but the 3 of them actually wear Kebaya. The only difference is the kind of fabrics of each Kebaya. The black velvet Kebaya is traditionally worn on Kesatrian/Menak style of Javanese wedding.

You may use any kind of fabric to make Kebaya, and it would still be called Kebaya. Kebaya nowadays may be tight-fitting and semi-transparent, but it was not always the norm.

BTW, the Bugis/Makassar traditional clothing for women is called Baju Bodo, while the men wear Belladhadha.

What's with all the sorry you guys?
Ah, I didn't know that that is also Kebaya. I just thought that that was a Javanese dress! heheh
Thank you for clearing up though!

Mask Dance of Indonesia

Tari Topeng Cirebon, West Java


Central Java



Topeng Malang, East Java


Reog Ponorogo, East Java






Topeng Telek, Bali



Topeng Sidakarya, Bali



Bali



Barong, Bali




Rangda, Bali

While I was searching for information about the masks in Balinese dance, I found the website of Nyoman Sumerti.
Nyoman Sumerti is currently working in Australia with many dance companies, including indigenous groups, Indopercussion Fusion Group, the Sydney Dance Company, and she has appeared in music videos.

One newspaper article briefly described a gig by Nyoman Sumerti :
Jose Calarco was asked to produce a work for the United Nations Aus Aid launch at Parliament house on November 20 2002.
He was asked to create a dance work which was to reflect Australian and Indonesian relations, especially in light of the Bali tragedy.
Descendance Group, along with Balinese dancers Nyoman Sumerti and Sani Puggy, performed "Tree Of Life" which showed the unity of all Humanity as different branches of the same tree. The piece received a standing ovation, with UN delegate head Mr Oshima stating it was one of the finest presentations ever seen at a United Nations launch anywhere in the World.