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| Japanese Culture |
After a full week of touring schools across Jakarta and Yogyakarta, the Geiso cultural performance group is due to arrive back in Japan today.
Based at the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Japan, the group is made up of Japanese and Indonesian students committed to sharing their cultures and traditions at home and abroad.
“ ‘Geiso’ literally means a group of people who are concerned with their traditional culture,” said Tisya Andini Ahmad, an Indonesian student enrolled at Ritsumeikan APU and the group’s chairwoman.
“It’s OK for young people to follow pop culture trends, like manga comics and cosplay dress-up events,” Tisya added. “But we shouldn’t forsake traditional culture either, because that’s where the soul of the nation is.”
Since its inception in 2000, the Geiso group has been presenting traditional Japanese music and dance in cities across the Asia-Pacific, including Japan, Indonesia and Taiwan.
Through the Ritsumeikan APU information center in South Jakarta, Geiso has been able to organize a number of cultural performances at Indonesian high schools and universities over the years.
This year, the tour included visits to the Kanisius Senior High School, University of Indonesia and Pelita Harapan University in Jakarta and the Stella Duce Senior High School in Yogyakarta.
“I’ve been to Indonesia three times,” said Takeshi Mizuta, a 21-year-old student from Ritsumeikan APU’s social studies program. “And I always have a good time and make new friends each time I come here.”
Takeshi is one of about 50 Japanese students studying Indonesian at the Japanese university. He has studied the language for almost two years.
“As the Indonesian students become interested in our culture, we [Japanese students] also become interested in theirs,” he said. “It feels great to be able to communicate with Indonesian students in their own language.’’
Geiso chairwoman Tisya said she has been captivated by traditional Japanese dance since her first day at the university.
“When I saw the dances at the opening ceremony [for new students], I was very impressed,’’ she said. “The dances were all fun and energetic, yet each movement contained a deep philosophical meaning.”
That’s why Tisya decided to join Mairaku, the university’s traditional dance group — to learn the moves for herself.
Along with almost a dozen others out of the 160 Indonesian students enrolled at Ritsumeikan APU, Tisya helped put together last week’s Geiso traveling performance, showcasing both Indonesian and Japanese dance.
With two of her peers, Tisya opened this year’s performance at the Kanisius Senior High School in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday by performing Onikenbai, a traditional Japanese dance.
Wearing black masks and red and black kimonos, dancers wave swords while stamping their feet.
The dance is said to have been created by a Buddhist monk who climbed Japan’s Mount Omine about 1,200 years ago, as he prayed to Buddha to banish evil spirits.
“The waving of the swords and stamping of the feet is believed to ward off evil spirits and bring peace to the world,” Tisya said.
Like Tisya, Indonesian student Adinata Yahya has also been bewitched by traditional Japanese culture since his first day at the university.
“When I saw a taiko [Japanese drum] performance on campus, I was amazed,” he said. “The players seemed to be very strong and determined. All dressed in black, they beat the drums vigorously with all their strength.”
Adinata, who studies business management at Ritsumeikan APU, took up taiko as an extracurricular activity.
“Through the classes, I not only learned about taiko, but also about the good habits of the Japanese people,” he said.
For example, he said all participating students would usually gather at the class half an hour before practice was due to start and would clean the classroom together when it was over.
With five other friends on Japanese drums, cymbals and flutes, Adinata performed the traditional song “Choushi,” which originates from the city of Chiba.
The audience broke into applause as four pairs of dancers representing horses and their riders galloped into the hall.
The Okawadai dance, which comes from the Aomori prefecture, depicts horses and their riders about to cross a road.
The dance — performed in pairs, with men as the horses and women as the riders — is a fun and enthusiastic exhibition, with the dancers galloping playfully before the audience.
This year, the Geiso group also added traditional Indonesian dances to their repertoire for the first time, including the Betawi Lenggang Nyai and Acehnese Saman.
Lenggang Nyai is a traditional dance from Jakarta that depicts the happiness of Nyai Dasimah, the legendary mistress of a rich British businessman in Jakarta, as she broke free from her master.
The Saman dance from the Aceh region is characterized by a flurry of energy and motion.
The traditional dance is dubbed “the dance of a thousand hands,” due to its rapid and dynamic hand movements. Performers must have excellent coordination for this dance, usually performed during important traditional celebrations, depicting the bravery and heroism of the Acehnese people. It is traditionally performed by older men accompanied by gendang drums.
The Geiso group added their own twist to the dance. It was performed by nine women — seven Japanese and two Indonesian — all dressed in vibrantly colored satin blouses, sarongs and pants. Instead of gendang, they used a set of Japanese taiko drums.
The women performed the series of rapid dance movements while at the same time singing an upbeat Acehnese song. The sonorous sounds of the taiko drums added a grand and majestic aura to the performance.
“We were aiming to create a collaboration between Japanese and Indonesian traditional cultures,” Tisya said.
The last piece was a traditional Japanese dance called Stage Arauma. Performed by pairs of men (again) dressed as horses and women dressed as peasants, the dance depicts the happiness of villagers after a good harvest. The fun-filled performance had the audience members clapping their hands and singing along with the performers.
Erlangga, a first-year student at Kanisius Senior High, said he was very impressed by the Geiso show.
“It’s amazing,” he said.
“It’s unlike anything that I’ve seen before. I hope I can also go and visit Japan one day.”
For more information:
Ritsumeikan APU Indonesia Information Center
Summitmas Tower I, 10th floor
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 61-62
South Jakarta
Tel. 021 2523 708
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