Never-ending clash unfolds

A clash of genders, human will, cultures, theater, music and dance swirls across the stage in a heady mix of tradition and contemporary exploration as the tale of Calonarang continuously unfolds.

An artistic collaboration between Bulantrisna Djelantik, with her classic Balinese dance roots, and Retno Maruti, with her passion for classical Javanese dance, the presentation done for the 30th anniversary of The Jakarta Post was a contemporary take on the ancient legend of the cosmic dichotomy of good and bad within human interaction, long existing in both cultures.

On April 25, Calonarang, Courage in an Age of Deceit, a special presentation of the Calonarang legend emerging from the converg
ence of the Javanese dance form known as bedaya and the legong dance genre of Bali, brought the old into a new context at the Jakarta Theater at Taman Ismail Marzuki.
Calonarang tells of power, magic, love and deceit within the setting of intrigue between King Airlangga, of what is now known as East Java, and the widow Walunateng Dirah (played by Bulantrisna Djelantik), whose knowledge of magic brought her power but also distrust and loathing.
When a plague breaks out decimating the population, the widow, who is better known as Witch Calonarang, is blamed. King Airlangga then resolves to find a way to put an end to the power Calonarang wields through a magical heirloom. He sends his trusted aid, Baradah (played by Retno Maruti), to find a way to wrench the heirloom from Calonarang’s grasp. Baradah approaches Calonarang with an offer of marriage for her beloved daughter Ratna Manggali (played by Adrienna Hamida Wallis). Mother and daughter are immediately drawn into this web of intrigue. Ratna Manggali is wooed into purloining the heirloom and giving it to Baradah. Once the heirloom is in his hands, Baradah returns to his king, disappointing the daughter and enraging her mother. A massive clash ensues between the forces of King Airlangga, depicted by dancers subtly and powerfully performing with the sedate, steady, inexorably persistent movements of the Javanese bedaya tradition, and the followers of Calonarang, depicted by dancers exploiting to the fullest the emotionally charged dynamic, almost explosive, dance maneuvers of the Balinese legong. The battle unfolds as expected; with Baradah using the knowledge he has gleaned from Calonarang’s heirloom to lead King Airlangga’s forces against the much weakened sorceress. In the end good prevails over evil, and both sides diverge once again, while it remains clear the larger cosmic struggle between light and dark is not over. Throughout the performance, in which the Javanese and Balinese dancers entered and exited the stage in a tension creating point-counterpoint format, the bedaya dancers’ movements were informed by the calm, repetitive tones of the Javanese karawitan gamelan orchestra led by Lukas Danaswara, accented with the lilting narration of sinden songstresses, and, in stark contrast, the legong dancers’ movements by the sharper, staccato melodies and deeper vocals of the Balinese karawitan musicians led by I Gusti Kompyang Raka. Then as the battle escalated, eventually transforming into an uneasy semblance of victory and defeat, the orchestras, singers and dancers of both artistic traditions, assisted by the culturally knowledgeable artistic design of Sonny Sumarsono, brought the profoundly classical elements together in a merged art form conveying significant messages from the past into the present in a masterful contemporary work of dance-theater. Calonarang, Courage in an Age of Deceit was a profoundly moving presentation, a true anniversary gift, reflecting the lessons to be learned from the past by not only the performing art community, but also by the public, including the mass media, and the nation’s leaders in all sectors.

For the art community, the resounding message from the merging of divergent classical traditions into a dynamically harmonious contemporary format is that the apparent dichotomy of traditional art and contemporary art is simply a matter of perspective and asking the right questions about format and context. Seen within the classical context, Calonarang, Courage in an Age of Deceit, faithfully presented an ancient story within traditional format. Seen within the contemporary context, two strict artistic formats were contrasted starkly to stir the awareness that, as is the case of female and male within the human sphere, there are more similarities than differences, and it is this “likeness” that imbues the old with the new and creates a fresh understanding of the story and the art. For the public, perhaps in particular the journalistic community, there is the message that even traditional thinking on past events is never completely black and white, that there are decided shades of grey to be explored, analyzed, comprehended and shared to inform a larger social context within the contemporary understanding that if a people cannot learn from their history they will repeat the often destructive entrenched cycles of the past. For the nation’s leaders, the core message may be the same — learning from the past is imperative for the creation of a brighter future for the people of this vast archipelago. As well, there is the lesson that art and culture are not valid just within the realm of tradition, but are also of vital import in the informing of dynamic, innovative and creative thinking within the contemporary context of nation building.