Discussion
Tradition and Modernity in Indonesian Dance
Speakers: Sal Murgiyanto and F.X. Widaryanto
Friday, June 05, 2015, 07:00 PM
Serambi Salihara
Open to the public
Register by Thursday, May 04, 2015

Modern dance in Indonesia began in the Fifties when two artists from Yogyakarta, Bagong Kussudiardja and Wisnuwardhana, went to study modern dance in the United States. Since then, Western modern dance and ballet have influenced the formation of Indonesian contemporary dance. However, Indonesian artist-dancers have never abandoned traditional dance because they are born from this tradition.

The discussion tries to trace the developments of Indonesian contemporary dance—that is much influenced by traditional dance—based either on the different periods of its development or on each choreographer’s complex artistic development. What are the uniqueness in their works? What works have successfully combined modern and traditional dance lexicon?

Sal Murgiyanto is a dance critic and lecturer at IKJ. He published a book, Ketika Cahaya Merah Memudar, in 1993. Meanwhile, F.X. Widaryanto is a danceworld observer and lecturer at ISBI Bandung. His book is Merengkuh Sublimitas Ruang (2002).