Last Saturday I went to Gedung Kesenian Jakarta at Pasar Baru with my sister to watch the dance performance of Dhea Seto and her friends at Animal Pop group. The last time I watched a dance performance was in 2011, of the "Ali Topan Anak Jalanan" musical theatre, so this was quite refreshing. Only that this time the dance is a contemporary one, not musical drama.

the girls acted as contemporary wayang wong, the human puppet, which is quite a good idea!

The performance was divided into two scenes: the first one is fully a contemporary Trans Papua and the student class musical. The second one is a sort of exam or inauguration of the dance school from different class levels. I really enjoyed watching the dance moves, the energy I got from the performers, and the philosophy behind the choreography. Here are the things I love from that night's show:

1. Great choreography.
As the title "Trans Papua", the dance showed movements and acts from people of Papua. The first act had the dancers dressed up like Papuan people (although the girls didn't wear any costume, which perhaps showed the 'trans' part of the story.) But I got the idea and it was great.

2. They highlighted some pop issues.
On the second scene (the class musical) they would highlight teenagers' daily problems such as physical issues. Most teenagers grow up feeling inferior in their peer group and physical things become an important thing. The dance had a song that told us that it doesn't matter if you're fat / skinny, dark / light-skinned, etc. They packaged it in a song / dance performance and I like the idea. It really is a good message for growing up teenagers. I hope more people get the message too.

3. Great energy.
I could really feel the great energy of the dancers that night, because I was all ready to dance too all night. I could see how much effort the dancers put on giving their best, although my focus was centered to Dhea Seto, the only person I know on stage. But I could see the performance of the Trans Papua dance was equally good, and the credit goes to the whole team!

Dhea Seto and Zsa Zsa Utari

I found the first act was superb, but a bit confused with the second one because of certain things. It was too confusing that I think I had to write about this somehow. I think any dance performers / choreographers should really notice these things:

1. On stage, appearance is everything. 
Yes, the moves and stage control are important, but what's more important is the costume. Even if it's "just" a student musical dance. Wearing loose T-shirt is definitely a no-no. If you're on budget, you could at least wear something basic, black and body fit like gymnastic clothes. It really annoys the eyes when you wear a loose class T-shirt on stage. For a moment I was confused if I really went for the performance night or was it the rehearsal night, and was questioning about the ticket price I had paid.

2. Art performance should be universal.
I was personally bothered when I see one of the group performers wore hijab. I know it is a sensitive matter, but I just think that it's not appropriate to show your religion preferences on stage where it (dance, music and art) should be universal. It's not that I disrespect anyone's preference of belief, but to me it is as if the person is disrespecting the art of performance itself. It made her seemed like she wanted to be seen and be treated special because of her personal belief and principles and that she didn't want to blend with the team--where the rest of her group wore uniformed hairdos. 
I just think that one's religion shouldn't be taken onto the stage and a good actor/actress should be able to play any role regardless one's religion/principal, because it's what a stage is for. And it just ruined the whole visual artistic.

3. Inner jokes are for your inner group.
It's great to have inner joke with your friends; it could show how close and solid your relationship is. But when the show is open for public and they pay for it your audience wants to enjoy the show they could understand. When your joke is funny only to your own crowd, it's where your show fails. Art could be confusing sometimes, but inner joke isn't part of art.

4. Repeated pattern is boring.
It's cool to have a bit element of surprise, but when the pattern is repeated for more than twice, it becomes predictable and boring, and won't make your audience stay till the end. On the show I watched, I could see a pattern of how each song would be stopped by a Papuan actor--and on his third time I became too bored. I didn't stay until the end of the show (and it's too rare that I leave any show before it finishes) because I thought I've seen it all and assumed the rest of the show would be a repeated pattern; nothing to be waited to the end.

5. Keep it minimal.
On the performance I watched, there were two guys played as ladyboys. On their first appearance, I found it hilarious. Especially because one of them acted as another character in the previous scene. But when these two characters keep showing up again and again, I found it to be too much and cheesy. We could all take something exaggerated once for a refreshing surprise act. But when it's repeated, the audiences would think that you are not that creative, and anything excessive is not good.



Other than these critics (which went mostly to the choreographer), I think the performers did great that night. Some uniformity in movement still should be worked on, but it's just a matter of practice. I really do love watching art performances and I love seeing people being creative in their own terms and fields. I hope both the Animal Pop group and Indonesian art in general would get better and expand more.

Rahayu _/|\_