Seni Budaya Nusantara Participated in World Folkloriada 2016

Seni Budaya Nusantara is a team consisted of CIOFF® Indonesia members. The preparation of the team started on September 2015 until July 2016. They brought about more than 8 performances to be presented in the festival. Some of them are Baris Wira Rebana dance from Bali, Greget Jawara dance from DKI Jakarta, Enggang and Balian medley dance from Borneo, Saman dance from Aceh, Topeng dance, Bubuka dance, and Bajidor Kahot dance from West Java, and so on.

In total, there were 16 members of the team participated in World Folkloriada 2016 which was held in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico from 30th of July until 7th of August 2016. The team then continued to participate in another festival in the state of Queretaro, Mexico from 8th of August until 12th of August. The team departed from Jakarta on 27th of July and arrived in Zacatecas on 28th of July through 50 hours of travelling by plane.

On the 29th of July, the committee of the festival invited the participants to a welcoming party called Callejoneada that involves parading the streets of Zacatecas with traditional Mexican music and dances. The following day, the opening ceremony was held at Estadio Fransisco Villa in Zacatecas.

The activities of the festival started with a parade in the street of Zacatecas and the day ended with performances in the stage at the plaza of Gobierno del Estado de Zacatecas. Out of 20 municipalities, Seni Budaya Nusantara team got the chance to perform at 4 municipalities of Zacatecas, which are Nieves, Villa de Cos, Villanueva, and Guadalupe. The team also had the opportunity to perform at Teatro Calderon and Plazuela Miguel Auza in Zacatecas.

On 8th of August, Seni Budaya Nusantara team departed to the state of Queretaro by bus together with teams from Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, and El Salvador to attend 4° Encuentro Internacional de Folclor de la Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro festival. The opening ceremony of the festival was held at Templo de Santa Rosa de Viterbo with a cocktail party theme.

The activities in 4° Encuentro Internacional de Folclor de la Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro festival includes performances at several campus locations of Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, municipalities of Queretaro such as Corregidora, El Marques, and Amealco, and also workshop, and a parade. The final performance was done in Plaza de Armas in the downtown of Queretaro.

After Queretaro, Seni Budaya Nusantara team was invited to perform at “Pesta Rakyat Indonesia” event, held by the Indonesian Embassy and Indonesian community in Mexico City. The event was filled with performances from Indonesian community, karaoke competition, and doorprizes. The team presented Baris Wira Rebana dance, Greget Jawara dance, Ginjring and Balian medley dance, Topeng Tua dance, Bubuka dance, and Saman dance.

The team was supposed to participate in the closing parade of World Folkloriada in Mexico City at 14th of August, but unfortunately, due to some issues, the committee decided to cancel the closing parade. Hearing the news, the embassy took the team to visit Teotihuacan, the archeological site in the northeast of Mexico City, and also souvenir shopping at La Ciudadela in Mexico City.

The team got back in time for a dinner party held by the Ambassador and family, together with the committee of “Pesta Rakyat Indonesia” event as thanksgiving and also farewell to the team before heading to Washington DC the following day.

Written by : Gayatri Larasati

Editted and published by : Ghina Aulia Megaputri