Ikke Nurjanah brings ‘dangdut’ to America

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Thu, 04/08/2010 8:31 AM

Dangdut diva Ikke Nurjana

JAKARTA: Dangdut diva Ikke Nurjanah will be having an unforgettable month of April, as she will fly to the US to promote dangdut to locals there.

American event organizer Sireedee Entertainment is inviting Ikke to the US to hold seminars about dangdut at the University of Pittsburgh and John Hopkins University.

“After the discussions, I will hold some gigs in Washington DC, New York and Pittsburgh,” said the single mother of one, as quoted by newsportal kapanlagi.com. “I will perform with a dangdut band called Cowboys, which was formed by Professor Andrew Weintraub from the University of Pittsburgh.”

Ikke is the second dangdut singer ever invited by the organizer, after Rhoma Irama. According to Ikke, dangdut is starting to attract the attention of Americans, with locals increasingly holding contests and discussions there about dangdut.

“They have held many dangdut events already, and there’s even one book on dangdut published there [in the US],” said Ikke. “When they sent their invitation, they told me that they wanted to explore my songs”. — JP

Indonesian porn law turns off folk dancers

AFP/Google, 9 March 2009 

BANDUNG, Indonesia (AFP) — Gyrating her hips to traditional gamelan music on a makeshift village stage, Indonesian folk dancer Sri Wulandari ignores the leers and wolf whistles of the drunk men below as she plucks grimy rupiah notes from their outstretched hands.

Her nightly routines rage into the wee hours in villages across West Java province but the 30-year-old dancer said the excited punters respected the golden rule of "look but don't touch."

Dancers perform "Jaipongan" during a festival in Bandung

"The men say naughty things and ask me to marry them but I'm a professional dancer, not a prostitute. Dancing jaipong is not a dirty job," she said.

The jaipong dance is one of several Indonesian art forms in the sights of social and religious conservatives after parliament passed a controversial anti-porn law in December.

West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan raised hackles when he warned dancers -- who perform mainly at official ceremonies and cultural festivals -- to tone down their provocative moves and hide their underarms to comply with the law.

But while artists, audiences and civil society groups are appalled at such comments, Islamic parties trying to boost their popularity ratings ahead of April general elections have championed the anti-porn campaign.

"The dance shouldn't be too erotic," said Tifatul Sembiring, a senior leader of the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party.

"It's true that in the 80s the jaipong dancers danced on tables in seedy places. Even now you can see them wearing tight clothes dancing at roadside bars," he told AFP.

"The worry is that once the anti-porn bill is fully implemented, the dance may be banned because it's too erotic."

Outraged and insulted, professional dance groups have called on Indonesians to teach the self-appointed guardians of morality a lesson at the ballot box come April.

"What are they talking about? The dancers are all covered up in long-sleeved traditional kebayas, not sexy tubes," said Mas Nanu Muda of the Jaipong Care Community, representing 20 dance groups.

"The dance is fast and energetic... If dancers limit their moves and do everything in slow-motion, wouldn't they appear lewd instead?" he asked, swivelling his hips in a slow, exaggerated manner to illustrate his point.

The West Java dancers are not alone in their battle against the anti-porn law.

From animist Papuan highlanders wanting to protect their right to wear "koteka" gourds on their penises, to Hindu Balinese opera dancers worried about their shoulder-showing outfits, and Christian Minahasa people from North Sulawesi fearing an intrusion of Islamic values -- many people across Indonesia's cultural and religious melting pot want the law scrapped.

Even the sultan of Yogyakarta has declared his opposition.

"The leader of our nation must be able to build tolerance between the citizens so they live side by side in peace. For me, this cannot be negotiated," Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, a candidate for presidential elections in July, told foreign journalists.

The anti-porn law was "the most terrible thing in the process of building our nation," he said.

The law criminalises all works and "bodily movements" including music and poetry that could be deemed obscene and capable of violating public morality, and offers heavy penalties.

The Constitutional Court threw out a petition against the law by the Minahasa people in February, but the ruling was based on a technicality and the Christian plaintiffs are expected to try again.

Wulandari said politicians should keep their noses out of art and repeal the law immediately.

"Just kill it. The jaipong dance reflects our culture and there's nothing pornographic about it," she told AFP in the home of her choreographer in Bandung, south of Jakarta.

"I'm angry at officials who misuse the law to attack us and our art."

Created by Sundanese artist Gugum Gumbira in the 1960s, Jaipong is a mix of older forms of community folk dances and the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat.

To untrained eyes, it combines the graceful arm and hand movements of Thai classical dance with hip gyrations reminiscent of Turkish belly dancing. It is not meant to be sexy, and the dancer's full-length kebayas reveal little.

"It's a popular dance performed at prestigious events in hotels and malls. Even children are taking lessons," said Bandung tourism and culture chief Askary, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

"Without shaking and gyrating, you can't call it jaipong. I don't consider it erotic, titillating or lustful. That's all in the mind. If people want to think of something as erotic, it will be erotic," he added.

Yusoff Hamdani, a teacher of Islamic studies, said jaipong was "a good form of exercise" for young girls -- including his five-year-old daughter.

"It's not just about understanding and preserving culture. My daughter used to be sick all the time but has become fitter after taking jaipong lessons," he said outside a school in Bandung.

"I don't know why anyone would view the dance so negatively."

No ban on yoga for RI Muslims yet: Ulema body

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 11/24/2008 9:05 AM  

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said Sunday it would not follow its Malaysian counterpart in banning yoga, if only because it did not know how widely yoga was practiced here. 

MUI deputy chairman Umar Shihab said the board of clerics would have to conduct a study before issuing an edict to ban it. 

"It's OK if it's for sport. I guess we can allow it here. But I don't know if it is proved it can destroy our beliefs as Muslims or contains ideas of polytheism," he said. 

Umar said the MUI had never conducted a study on yoga because there had been no public complaints. 

Malaysia's National Fatwa Council, which has the authority to rule over how Muslims practice their faith, took the international community by surprise Saturday when it issued a fatwa or edict banning Muslims from practicing yoga, saying the Indian physical exercise contains elements of Hinduism and could corrupt Muslims. 

The council said yoga involved not just physical exercise but also Hindu spiritual elements, chanting and worship. 

A fatwa is not legally binding on Muslims, who comprise nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 27 million people, unless it is enshrined in national or sharia laws. However, many Muslims abide by the edicts out of deference, and the council does have the authority to ostracize an offending Muslim from society. 

Many analysts have said the fatwa reflects the growing strain of conservatism in Malaysia, which has always taken pride in its multiethnicity. About 25 percent of Malaysians are ethnic Chinese and 8 percent ethnic Indians, mostly Hindus. 

Creeping conservatism has also been observed in Indonesia, as evident in the recent passage of the controversial pornography bill and enforcement of sharia-based ordinances in regions. 

Deputy chairman of the MUI edict commission Ali Mustafa Yakub said Muslims here were allowed to practice yoga as it was not clear how popular it was. 

"I've rarely heard of Muslims here practicing yoga. We don't need to ban it because we haven't found Muslims practicing it here. If they do, they are not publicly visible, so there will be no problems," he said. 

Yakub said he was sure the Indian influence in Indonesia was not as strong as in Malaysia, arguing the influence was limited to dangdut music. 

Hundreds of yoga classes with thousands of participants throughout the country have emerged since the 1998 financial crisis, with many adherents regarding yoga as a way of relieving stress and frustration. 

"All of a sudden, the classes are full," Janet Wijaya, a senior yoga instructor, was quoted as saying by Tempo magazine recently. 

With a financial crisis looming over the country, more people -- regardless of their religion -- may take up yoga.

SBY sings the blues

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Can a music CD, which consists of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's original compositions, sung by other artists, help with his declining approval rating?

Using an album such as this as a propaganda tool to win the affection of young voters and the non-voting community will prove difficult. Chart and record sales suggest that they are either in love with dangdut or pop rock, not nostalgic karaoke type music. Just by sampling alone, it turns out that Rinduku Padamu (My Longing to You) is geared more toward the old timers.

Most of the songs are written and composed by SBY, who used to perform in a band in Pacitan, East Java during the 1960s.

When former U.S. President Bill Clinton played Heartbreak Hotel on the saxophone on the Arsenio Hall Show, he looked cool and eventually gained a slew of supporters and went down in television history.

When purchasing SBY's CD at a local record store, I was being quite careful as not to let any of my friends catch me alive holding this CD, which contains 10 songs sung by the likes of Dharma Oratmangun, Gee Foregia, Senno Haryo and Kerispatih.

SBY's songs feel, for a lack of a better term, old-fashioned. Nevertheless those who dig the melancholic music of Ebiet G. Ade should find this collection charming.

Rinduku Padamu, the title song, is sung by Dharma Oratmangun, who, despite his good voice, isn't well known by the average music enthusiast. (For those who favor a more mellow tone, this song also comes in the "medium beat" version.)

Mentari Bersinar (Sun Is Shining) sung by Senno Haryo truly feels archaic despite its message of everlasting hope.

Kerispatih sang Kawan (Friend), which sounded like KLA Project, a defunct pop group, in their heyday. Did I hear a distorted guitar there? At this point, I am convinced that the President really has a knack at songwriting and maybe he should consider a second career.

Dendang Di Malam Purnama (Full Moon Song) has a cool theme, but by the time the rhythm started to kick in I felt that this CD offered too much of the same thing.

Veteran musician Ebiet G. Ade, who co-wrote the tune Mengarungi Keberkahan Tuhan (Recognizing God's Blessing), tells the universal story of how man fights for his life on earth with a little help from above.

Hening (Peaceful) attempts to sooth listeners with Widi Mulia's angelic voice. It is about a rural woman who contemplates the tranquil mornings in her village. So far, this is the highlight of the album as it has a nice layer of traditional Indonesian flute.

So far, there is no subliminal message found in SBY's tunes except that people should go on living peacefully with one other and live under the grace of God. (Oh please).

Don't get me wrong, the sound quality of this CD is excellent and will play well on a any super stereo sound system.

A great aspect on this record, which is released by Nagaswara record, is the SBY logo (The Y is bigger than the S and B). The blue and white logo, which resembles a DC comics superhero logo, represents the CD well -- and could be well used in the next presidential campaign in 2009!

SBY also registered and copyrighted all his songs. Does this mean that there will be no more pirated version of Indonesian records at Ratu Plaza? Only time will tell.

A more novel approach for SBY's second album, which I doubt he will do, is to use various traditional ethnic instruments from this archipelago and pin the album down as a world music rather than the nostalgic pop category. He might do well on the BBC Radio 3 World Music station.

Related Article:

SBY's album and the 'my boss can do no wrong' book

Are opera and 'dangdut' the same?

The Jakarta Post

On the way home from an opera performance (a recital of popular operatic arias), I passed a dangdut show in a suburb.

Several people were seen dancing on the stage along with the singer; some were waving flagging banknotes for the singer to take in what is called sawer in return for which the donor's name will be mentioned in the lyrics.

That kind of performance is common, particularly in rural areas. Dangdut is often an integral part of circumcision or wedding ceremonies.

Dangdut is everywhere. Everyone is familiar with its beat, even if they are not necessarily dangdut lovers.

Local TV channels are full of dangdut programs. Often, groups of people can be seen enjoying dangdut songs on TV or radio while chatting over coffee.

Stars come and go. In the past, Rhoma Irama and Elvi Sukaesih were dubbed the "King and Queen of Dangdut." Today, even children are familiar with Inul Daratista, who is well-known for her "drilling" dance.

The list is long. The singers have their own typical performances -- Iis Dahlia is a melancholic singer who at times will break into tears mid-song.

Does Indonesian classical music have its icons?

Christopher Abimanyu and Linda Sitinjak are regarded as leading singers. But if you ask passersby about them, they will most likely shake their head.

Although on some occasions tickets are sold, as at performances put on in entertainment parks or discotheques, generally you don't need to pay to watch a live dangdut show.

At Hotel Mulia Senayan, where nine opera singers from Italy were on show, visitors had to pay from US$125 to $150 per person to get in.

In no way am I railing about injustice. What they paid might be worth what they got. They would have seen a group of talented performers plus their distinguished Indonesian counterparts, with top-quality food and beverages being served. And all in a five-star hotel.

Some may spend an amount of money that others will say is irrational.

"With a million rupiah, I'd rather go shopping," a friend said.

We may be forgiven for our skepticism -- not because the prices are beyond what we can afford but rather because we have yet to nurture such appreciation of the music.

Classical arias, which appear in opera, have yet to tune well to people's taste here.

"Classical music is still the privilege of a small group of people. We understand that because this is all about culture," Christopher said after the show.

Classical music performances are still relatively rare here. The few that there are tend to be organized by foreign embassy-funded culture centers.

So far I've experienced opera mainly through TV clips or Western films. I recall Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti singing his heart out, accompanied by a big orchestra ... on TV.

Not wanting to appear a total ignoramus during the show, I took a peek at the book Opera for Dummies by David Pogue and Scott Speck.

It was a good handbook. It contains -- among many other things -- a list of all operas ever composed.

The book touches on the 10 most common misconceptions about opera, one of which is that you have to dress up to see it.

In fact, you can dress however you like at the opera.

Most visitors that night at Mulia were dressed up. Some wore casual suits. "They are not defying the rules," I thought, recalling the book.

Inside the hall, I looked for the orchestra but couldn't find it.

Perhaps it might have been obstructed by some of the tables. I asked an attendant to help me count the musical crew and tell me what instruments they would be playing to accompany the singers.

In fact, there was only a piano. I'd already seen it when I entered the hall. It was on the stage.

"Did you think this would be like a concert? No, this is just a song recital," said the attendant.

Although it was only a recital, the performers presented it dramatically, even if it was just a solo performance. Elena Oliva portrayed the sentiments in O mio babbino caro by moving her entire body expressively.

The opera singers performed onstage as though acting in drama with the dialog communicated through song. For some in the audience, though, it seemed hard to fathom the meaning of it all.

"Is it about sadness and happiness?" said a voice from a nearby table that had been buzzing with chatter over the chink of champagne glasses throughout the performance.

-- Musthofid