THE DANCER AND THE DANCE

44 minutes 1988 Colour 
Film maker: Felicia Hughes-Freeland

This film is an invitation to see Javanese palace dancing as performed in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and to go beyond appearances to discover what the dance means to those who continue the tradition. In this film dancers prepare to entertain guests at a wedding reception and perform the Love Dance (Langen Nawung Asmara). The female dancer, Susindahati, becomes the centre of attention as she does her household duties and then goes to the Secondary School of Performing Arts for classes in teaching theory and practical training in the Golek Asmarandana dance. Susindahati's generation is concerned with the perfecting of technical mastery. It is the older generation who can explain the importance of dance as a discipline, and the ideas associated with it. One of the connoisseurs, R. Kawindrasusena (known as Pak Seno), reads part of a philosophical text in the macapat style, and explains the spiritual elements of palace dance in Yogyakarta. At a training session of the Yayasan Siswa Among Beksa dance association, he describes his early experience of learning to dance, and explains the Javanese way to watch dances such as the elaborate Bedhaya Gandakusuma, which is being rehearsed with a gamelan orchestra and singers. After samples from this one-and-a-half hour long dance, Pak Seno offers his interpretation of the significance of what we have just seen.

This film offers a specialised view of dance that will be valuable to teachers and students of dance as well as those interested in anthropology and Indonesia. It was produced through the Leverhulme Trust funded scheme whereby anthropologists were trained to make ethnographic films at the National Film and Television School. A study guide to accompany the film is available from the RAI, price £2. Catalogue numbers, (16mm):RA184 £18; (VHS) RA/VHS184 £8.

C. Holt, 1967. Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change. Cornell University, Ithaca N.Y.

F. Hughes-Freeland, 1986. The Search for Sense: Dance in Yogyakarta. PhD thesis, University of London.

Koentjaraningrat, 1985. Javanese Culture. Oxford University Press, Singapore.

Priyono, 1982. Indonesian Dance. Balai Pustaka, Jakarta.

B.P.H. Surjobrongto, 1978. `The Classical Yogyanese Dance'. Kalakshetra Quarterly, Vol. 1/3, pp. 9-16.

If you are interested in hiring or purchasing this film please contact the Film Officer by or +44(0)20 7387 0455. 

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