In the beginning there were two basic elements in the universe: Purusa and Prakrti, which both danced in cosmic rhythm.
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By Saras Dewi
·6 minutes read
In the beginning there were two basic elements in the universe: Purusa and Prakrti, which both danced in cosmic rhythm. The dance of the two primordial substances created the universe and all its contents, including humans. This is the belief of the followers of the ancient Samkhya school of philosophy.
Planets, the sun and the galaxy were born from the contact of Purusa and Prakrti. The two elements are original substances, namely the spiritual and material elements that create life. In this case, dance according to the viewpoint of Eastern philosophy is a movement that initiated this cosmos, even supporting the occurrence of harmony.
Dance is a human way to comprehend and imagine the creative power of the process of creating life. Humans see their bodies as an embodiment of something that is similar to the body of the universe, so body movements are interpreted as something universal, which places humans in space and time.
The human ancestors danced to know about the world. Therefore, understanding dance is actually knowing about human history and the development of thought. The body is the archive of life where knowledge is hidden.
However, there is suspicion about the body. The body is always considered to be part of a lower experience when compared to understanding through reason. It is as if the body and mind can be separated, but through dance, mind meditation is actually being channeled through bodily movements.
Dancing is a form of self-reflection preceding reflection using language or characters. What can we explore about dance as knowledge? The body through dance is not limited as a sensory instrument, but the body as a source of knowledge about humans themselves.
Walter Spies, a well-known artist fascinated by Balinese dances, said that the uniqueness of the art of dance in Bali was the absence of stage, or rather, the stage is everywhere. Balinese people dance everywhere, they dance on village streets, in graves at dusk, in temples, in their yard – the stage is held in any space. Dancing is not a show for humans themselves, dancing is an offering to the great one.
Toward the end of October, the community in Geriana Kauh village, Karangasem, Bali, held the Rejang dance in celebration of Ngusaba. Welcoming the arrival of the harvest season, the children danced around the village accompanied by the parade of residents who brought all their produce as a celebration of the abundant harvest.
This year, despite the disease outbreak, the people remain happy due to the successful harvest and packed barns. The dancers, who were children, wore hair curls or crowns on the thrones of flowers of cananga, gumitir (marigold) and ratna, with simple white and yellow clothes. They danced by swinging their shawls to the right and left. They were smiling, but their smiles were covered by masks. This is the reality of dancing in a new era.
Similar is the Seblang dance from Olehsari village, Banyuwangi, East Java. This year, because of COVID-19, only the core ritual was carried out, without a crowd of spectators who usually flocked to follow this ritual. The Seblang dance is a sacred dance that involves a procession of trance; this dance is held as part of the belief of the Osing tribe community.
Anthropologists like Robert Wessing classify the Seblang dance as a trance dance, in line with the Sanghyang dance in Bali, as well as the Sintren dance in West Java. The trance dance positions the dancer\'s body as a place to ground the spirits from heaven. The purpose of these sacred dances is to protect the village from all disease outbreaks. These dances are also believed by the adherent community as dances that can restore balance in the village when there is an outbreak of disease or social conflict.
Historically, the Seblang dance is closely related to agricultural tradition (Wessing: 1999). Through the linguistic research of the gendingan (singing) that accompanies the dance, it can be comprehended that the dance greatly exalts Dewi Sri as the rice goddess who brings fertility and prosperity to farmers. Dewi Sri is mentioned as Ratu Sabrang, or the ruler of the other world, the magical world.
Layered space
Through the history of these dances, we can explore the knowledge that our ancestors saw space not as a single thing. Space is something that is elastic, layered, even overlapping one another. The arrangement of this space is not only an objective and concrete human world, beyond that – through dance – humans can experience the world of the ancestors as well as the spiritual world of Hyang.
Dancing is a medium of communication between humans and nature that is considered silent. Even without words, the body is conversing through movements. The dancer\'s body in this sense is an intermediary to connect with the sacred; even through the dancer\'s body are there prayers and holy rites.
Dance has the power of evocation, namely inspiring its observers.
The art of dance has a vital function in society. Dance is the story of the body, which is always moving in search of meaning about beauty and freedom. Dance has the power of evocation, namely inspiring its observers.
Contemporary dance choreographer Yola Yulfianti presented a work titled Inter-FACE, as an expression of her restlessness when the dancing space shrinks. A dance of two bodies hugging each other, holding each other intimately, was performed. In the dim light, the two bodies flirted in silence.
The vibration that arises from the dancer\'s bodies reaches the bodies of the observers. This is what is called kinesthetic force which makes the other bodies empathize with all emotions; being happy, moved, fearful, or angry. If consciousness is assumed to be like a stream, then our consciousness seems to be carried away, mesmerized by the movements of the bodies.
Both traditional and contemporary dances, despite being different in a variety of compositions, are created from the body\'s longing and need for intertwining with other bodies. In times of sorrow due to the disease outbreak, the bodies that dance are the bodies that protect hope.
SARAS DEWI, Lecturer of Philosophy, University of Indonesia