Phase: The wounds of change

Waves of change: Maria Bernadeth (left) and Davit (right) perform in the dance titled Padusi, choreographed by Jefri Andi Usman. Photo courtesy of Bodi CH

Silence swept through a stage dotted with dead trees, until monotonous low-key sounds could be discerned. 

Some movements accompanied the continuous sounds, bathed in illumination on the right-hand corner at the back of the stage.

The movements and sounds were a reminder of oil refining machines endlessly draining our earth’s resources. A body later appeared, crawling slowly like a caterpillar coming out of a “time machine”, looking wobbly. Another body also emerged. They were seemingly part of the dead vegetation around. 

Other monotonous sounds followed, mimicking the drone of chainsaws in forests along with sawmills. The silence came to an end. The bodies were wriggling, trying to rise, only to fall headlong to the ground. The earth was wounded. The sounds of woodcutting machines never ceased, humming all the time and creating inconceivable agony. 

This portrayal of a wounded and aging earth of life caused by neglect from the modern men was featured in Tanah Merah (Red Soil), the first part of Tabusai Dance co.’s PHASE presented by choreographer Jefri Andi Usman, 39, at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta (GKJ) this month. 

Of Minang (West Sumatra) origin, Jefri has toured various countries and collaborated with world choreographers like Henrietta Horn, Juan Cruz (Germany, Yukio Waguri, Kota Yamazaki (Japan) and Peter Chin (Canada). 

Change has given rise to countless wounds. This situation was portrayed with a murky sense of poetry. 

Red soil: Choreographer and dancer Jefri Andi Usman performs in his choreographic work Tanah Merah. Photo courtesy of Bodi CH

The entire imagination put across on stage stemmed from human tragedy. 

Normal life is something indistinct, only to be longed for, which was articulated by the sounds of sampelong and puput labu (traditional Minang wind instruments) and digirudu (aboriginal instrument), wailing vaguely, as if coming from a far-off cave. 

Jefri, with his awareness and experience, has freed himself from the temptation or desire of presenting neatly composed and beautifully designed works for spectators to feast their eyes on, which would ruin the artistic quality of his choreography.

Padusi (Minang for women), was the second part of the PHASE show. The stage was cleared of the dead trees. The entire space was left open to depict the existence of women under the matrilineal system currently battered by the waves of changing times, which Jefri has been obsessed with. 

Bodi CH: Photo courtesy of Bodi CH

In Minang society, women as the pillars of family life or clans and whose position is guarded by a social system based on religious culture, today have to face the inevitable waves of transformation.

Padusi was not staged in a realistic manner. Songs, percussions and wind instruments offered richer artistic energy to convey the reality of change taking place at present. Today’s Minang women freely go beyond the confines of gender, causing them to be alienated from traditional life. 

Removed from traditional frames of the past, they appear to be modern, yet without having created a new identity for themselves. They may be enjoying their freedom, but they have lost their identity in the course of the change, which is still not well understood. 

They are more concerned with deriving pleasure from freedom rather than with the honor and moral superiority of padusi as implied by their tradition and culture. 

The ancestral songs belted out by golden-voice singer Piterman, a touring vocalist and graduate from the Indonesian Art College of Padangpanjang, sounded like mantras. He produced humming, groaning and even howling tones for the sake of recreating the lost air of tranquility of bygone times, now overwhelmed by the waste of change.

Along with Risdul and Desmal Hendri, also alumni of the same college, he built varying moods by presenting several acts without music while maintaining the musical atmosphere of the stage. 

The jerky body language of Maria Bernadeth and Davit with padusi being carried on male shoulders was the most down-to-earth expression of the wild transformation as perceived by Jefri. 

With Jefri’s artistic and lighting direction that remained open to various possibilities, the stage was like two paintings of PHASE that still left unfilled spaces on the canvases. The trees also assumed a minimal function. More extensive and profound exploration is needed for high quality artistic achievements. 

Jefri was capable of communicating it all as proven in his previous work, Akan Jadi Malam (It’s going to be night). Davit and Maria as dancers in Padusi were not adequately challenged to demonstrate their best quality as they had done in Akan Jadi Malam, though. 

Finally, with the potential they all have developed so far, the future of Tabusai Dance co. will depend highly on their management competence.

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