"One ... two ... three ... four ... five ... stomp with your heels! Six..." The sound echoed in the auditorium Galeri Indonesia Kaya (GIK), Grand Indonesia, Jakarta, accompanied by dozens of people stomping rhythmically.

"We’ll do this 11 times," continued Nur Kusuma Ngarasati or usually called Raras, dance coach of the Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts (CIOFF®) Indonesia, an institute of art and culture in collaboration with UNESCO. Raras was training a five-days workshop of Rantak Dance held by GIK for the general public. The training will conclude with a performance of this Minangkabau (West Sumatra) Dance in front of audiences.

As the name implies, “Rantak” in Rantak Dance means stomping, the dancers stomps according to the Ragam (sequence of movements in dance). Rantak dance can be performed by men and women and it was opened with the dancers entered the stage in formation, with the guidance from Minang gandang (drum) quick and decisive beat. Step by step, the dancers entered, with their right foot "stomping the earth" in each ragam.

"So it's all about dynamic. The music that we hears were not only came from musical instrument, but also from the sound emitted due to the movement of dancers. This is what distinguishes Rantak dance with other Minangkabau dances, "said Raras

The sweat began to appear from the dancer who has been in the world of dance since the age of four and became member of CIOFF® for nearly ten years. Stomping feet full of energy continue to color the first session of the workshop, which lasted for two hours and learn the 3 movements of a total of 15 ragam of Rantak Dance.


Rantak Dance taught at GIK is a work of the Mr. Gusmiati Suid, a dance maestro's from Batusangkar, West Sumatra. This dance was created in 1976, as an expression of dissatisfaction with the Minang dance, which he thought too graceful. He also create Rantak Dance by adopting the philosophy of Pencak Silat, a traditional martial art, which has been long recognized in West Sumatra. Besides Rantak, some Pencak Silat movements also characterizes the Rantak Dance. Raras explained, "For example, if there are fifteen ragam in Tari Rantak, eleven of which came from Pencak Silat, while other Minang dance, only had four or five of them."

"There are several philosophies of Pencak Silat used in this dance. But the most obvious is Ukua jo Jangko, it means  to measure (with compass), "she said. One movement that apply Ukua jo Jangko philosophy, is a movement of the hand during the opening of the dance. When the right foot strikes the floor, right hand also struck through the opening of left-hand that half crossed over the chest. The right hand then quickly pulled out, opened, as if to measure. 

 

"This is the basic movements of Pencak Silat," said Raras while demonstrating the movement. According Raras the movement philosophy is "every person's actions, must be calculated in advance"

There is also a philosophy of Garak-Garik (gestures), "It can be seen from the movement of the head, that begins to look down, then forward. The philosophy is to see everything with vigilance ".

While philosophy Tagak-tagak which dancers stand in upright position in several positions, symbolizing the concept of contemplation before taking action. "So, every dance movement, were thought by our ancestors, so we can act wisely and live wisely. Indonesian dances were very meaningfull, if we knew about the movements and the philosophy. "

Rantak Dance Workshop is part of the Gallery of Indonesia Kaya (GIK) program to teach different dance around Nusantara (Indonesian Archipelago) each month.

"Because if the program (dance training) were not held, the knowledge of the dances will be stop at our old generation," said Program Associate Bakti Budaya Djarum Foundation, which takes care of GIK, Billy Gamaliel.

 

Moreover, he said, the interest of young people to watch the performing arts associated with Indonesia traditional cultures, were still low, "The people who study and watch the dances never changed. So if the older generation were not there anymore, the performing arts, such as Indonesian dances will be die. "

For the reasons to 'regenerate' and see the diversity of Indonesian culture, GIK, according to Billy tried to pick a dance that is not well known. From West Sumatra, Rantak Dance "Which was not known by many people" was selected when compared to other Minang dance like Piring Dance or Pasambahan Dance.

This is the reasons that made Eko Setiawan, a young dancer and dance instructor from a dance studio in Pamulang, sign up to become one of the workshop participants.

"If i only learn from watching (the dance video) on youtube, i’m afraid i can’t transfer the dance movement (to friends) correctly. There’s also a trainers here to train me, so why not?, "said Eko conveying the reason why he attend this workshop.

 

After attending several sessions of the workshop, turns out learning Rantak Dance was not 'as easy' as he thought. "It’s quite difficult at the beginning. Especially the tempo. There was a pause, and then move again, there are fast and slow movements,  I need to learn more about the tempo. I miss the tempo several time, even for someone like me (dancers). "

However, it did not lessened the spirit of this man who had loved to dance since childhood. "(I) feel a responsibility. A responsibility to learn. Because if I did this just for hobby, and did not understand its meaning, its movement and also can’t share the knowledge, I think it's a pity. Other teenagers wouldn’t know about this dance if there’s no one willing to teach them," he said.

However, there maybe no other person who felt more special to learn Rantak dance more than Yohana Suwandi, or usually called Yona.

 

In contrast to Eko, who works as a dancer, Yona, who is a recruitment consultant, the last time she dance is when she was a child, about 20 years ago. Rantak Dance Workshop was special for her, because since childhood she often watch Rantak Dance and have long wanted to learn it. She came from Padang, West Sumatra and recently moved to Jakarta three years ago.

"Especially now far from home. There is a longing to come back home. With learning Minang dance, in addition to satisfy my curiousity, it can reminds me of my memories back home," says Yona. The longing for home and her great interest, doesn’t always make studying Rantak dance an easy thing for her. 

 

"It's so difficult," said Yona. "The difficulty is to memorize moves. Minang Dances had a lot of  fast movements, so it’s difficult to catch them."

 

Although never missed practice in five days workshop training, this difficulty later becomes an obstacles for Yona. On the last day of the workshop, Raras and the team announced 5 of the 13 participants, selected to appear on the show the next day. With the consideration of the movement memorization, Yona was not selected, but Eko was selected.

Although not selected, Yona’s spirit to enjoy the art of her native hometown, did not fade. She was on the spectators line of Keunebah show in GIK which opened with Rantak Dance.

 

Yona in middle of the audience during the D-day appearance

When the light began to fade and stomping music was echoed,  tension began to appear in  Yona’s face. Dancers began to enter in the typical foot stomps of Rantak Dance. Eko and his four colleagues’s hands move quickly, like measuring, symbolizes the philosophy of martial arts who previously taught by Raras, Ukua Jo Jangko. The music kept playing, the beats kept changing. The dancer's body move shiftly on the stage.

 

In the audiences seat, Yona now smiles thinly. At the middle of the dance, comes the part where the dance tempo suddenly changed quickly. The part that always worried by Eko. Music was changing fast, Eko seemed to miss the tempo of some movement. However, he quickly catches his rhythm again, according to the music.

 

Music reach climax, Rantak stomps echoed, followed by applause from the audience, including Yona. Rantak dance that lasted about five minutes and studied in just five-day workshop was ended.

"Yes, it was very sad not being able to perform. But I’m glad, they performed the dance very nicely, I’m proud of it. But unfortunately, I actually felt more homesick now after watching him," said Yona while smiling to BBC Indonesia.

 

And of course, the happiest one are the dancers. "Relieved, but a little nervous. There was a wrong move because i lost count. I’m more relieved now. But yeah, I think i could do better than that," said Eko after performance.

 

Though it feel short, Eko claimed to have gained much from the training and performance. Starting from learning the basic movement and philosophy of martial arts, new dance variety, and what he considered "the most important", are his new friends.

With heavy breath and sweat all over his forehead, Eko also told what he express during the training a few days ago. "I intend to share this with the other students, my students. In the studio or at school, to let them know about Rantak dance movement. Not only listen, you know, but also try and understand its philosophy," said Eko.


Original article:
http://www.bbc.com/indonesia/majalah/2016/06/160530_majalah_seni_tari_rantak


Written by Rafki Hidayat (BBC Indonesia) June 1, 2016
Translated and published by Galih Sadhira & Ghina Aulia Megaputri