ART SUMMIT
Since I have been here in Indonesia, there is a big performing arts festival taking place. Actually there are many taking place. But what else can one expect of a country with over 250 million people. Yup Indonesia - 250 million. A country we hardly even hear about in the West. But I digress. I was talking about the arts summit. I went to the Festival opening, invited by a beautiful French woman from the French culture office, named Elise. She’s been inviting me many places and meeting her has been most fortuitous, but more on that another time. So I have only seen two shows so far. The first one is Antigone – greek tragedy translated into Arabic. Great lighting, interesting blocking with the three persons on stage – but well within the first segment, my inability to understand proved too much and I was gone.
The second show I saw was sooooo much more interesting. It was an Indian dance troupe of five men. One of them was well over fifty, maybe even sixty. The curtains opened and he was in a headstand that lasted for about five minutes. Phenomenal. It was only after that time I realized this man was so… mature. The dancers moved about at an infinitesimally slow pace at the start to powerfully moving music. It was somehow poetic that the music was so moving and the dancers seemed not to be. A miracle of modern dance I would say. No attempt to generate any visual excitement but to create a more visceral experience. What can I say? In this man’s face was a world of expression which the four young athletic men around him couldn’t rival, even as the dance became more energetic and they twirled swords like extensions of their arms. He would leave the stage and they would dance. He would then return in the midst of their sword clashing and javelin thrusting with his serene poses movements. He moved like a cross between a flamenco dancer and a Buddhist monk. That’s the best way I could describe it. At one point he goes straight into a headstand in the midst of the performance. Another interesting moment came when his face danced, his eyebrows twitching up and down as it formed the different faces of a clown. Brilliant.
Since I have been here in Indonesia, there is a big performing arts festival taking place. Actually there are many taking place. But what else can one expect of a country with over 250 million people. Yup Indonesia - 250 million. A country we hardly even hear about in the West. But I digress. I was talking about the arts summit. I went to the Festival opening, invited by a beautiful French woman from the French culture office, named Elise. She’s been inviting me many places and meeting her has been most fortuitous, but more on that another time. So I have only seen two shows so far. The first one is Antigone – greek tragedy translated into Arabic. Great lighting, interesting blocking with the three persons on stage – but well within the first segment, my inability to understand proved too much and I was gone.
The second show I saw was sooooo much more interesting. It was an Indian dance troupe of five men. One of them was well over fifty, maybe even sixty. The curtains opened and he was in a headstand that lasted for about five minutes. Phenomenal. It was only after that time I realized this man was so… mature. The dancers moved about at an infinitesimally slow pace at the start to powerfully moving music. It was somehow poetic that the music was so moving and the dancers seemed not to be. A miracle of modern dance I would say. No attempt to generate any visual excitement but to create a more visceral experience. What can I say? In this man’s face was a world of expression which the four young athletic men around him couldn’t rival, even as the dance became more energetic and they twirled swords like extensions of their arms. He would leave the stage and they would dance. He would then return in the midst of their sword clashing and javelin thrusting with his serene poses movements. He moved like a cross between a flamenco dancer and a Buddhist monk. That’s the best way I could describe it. At one point he goes straight into a headstand in the midst of the performance. Another interesting moment came when his face danced, his eyebrows twitching up and down as it formed the different faces of a clown. Brilliant.
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