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Transforming Traditions: A Collection of Observations
Regional Dance Summit, Jakarta
5 – 8 August 2009
By Choy Su-Ling
Is a ‘contemporary’ epidemic sweeping across Asia? The influenza that plagues the dance fraternity is definitional. Like a furiously mutating virus, each time you think you have an antidote, the form changes; therein the vicious cycle of seeking, of questioning, of learning. With the grasp still at large, Goethe-Institut Jakarta recently hosted the Regional Dance Summit themed “Transforming Traditions,” an event to capture erudite conversations on the transformation process of tradition becoming current art.
40 distinguished guests from ten countries gathered for four days: choreographers, dancers, cultural journalists, directors and advisors of dance institutions, dance experts from Germany; and staffs of the Goethe-Institutes from Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
The countries represented offer a wide range of historic experiences and cultural traditions. Either by brilliant curatorship or by fluke design, the programme over the four days was fruitfully revealing, although the level of appreciation amongst the participants varied. But generally, we all agreed that “transforming traditions” better describes dances in Asia rather than the word “contemporary.”
There were several pieces of live performances and a video that serve the purpose of this discourse more than others. By this selection, I do not endorse that these items are better than the rest. In fact, it could be the contrary. To derive any meaningful revelations of this “transformation process of tradition”, it is perhaps necessary to look beyond the artistic qualities and instead, turn to cultural anthropology. And so, the pieces that I’ve picked are rooted in tradition but informed by Western enculturation as the common denominator.
From BetaMax to DVD/ Jecko Siompo, Indonesia
- taking the essence of tradition
 His creative identity is strongly attached to his aboriginal roots and his new-found love for hip hop. There is not even a hint of Papuan dance in his choreography. Instead, he chose a completely Western form, that is, street dance, as his expression of Papuan identity, drawing only the essence and spirit of traditional Papuan folk and tribal dance.  Neang Neak & Shir Ha Shirm/ Khmer Arts Ensemble, Cambodia - the extension/expansion of tradition At the other extreme are the Cambodian works sticking to an entirely classical movement language. The trajectory for transforming tradition rests on the expansion or extension of existing repertoires. The Ensemble is of the view that classical movements need not be compromised, and they understood ‘contemporary’ to mean an expression of contemporary issues in traditional dance.
While this approach offered a smooth transition of tradition, the other method that they used, that is, classical dancing to Hebrew music, met with less success. About Khon/ Pichet Klunchun, Thailand
- delimiting tradition In “About Khon”, Pichet uses a didactic approach to convey strictly classical movements. He takes a typical traditional master-student classroom of oral transference onto stage and choreographs it as a lecture-performance, a style well-suited for the Western-educated. Pichet believes in ‘stripping down’ to the crux of the issue – that the lack of interest in Khon is due to ignorance and lack of education; and to educate properly, is to strip away the costumes to reveal every muscle of movement that makes Khon – and in doing so, to clearly demarcate the art form.
Varsha/ Umesh Shetty, Malaysia
- reconstructing tradition  “Varsha” is a contemporary Bharatanatyam piece performed by students of ASWARA, a Malaysian arts academy. Umesh is one of the few choreographers who succeed in creating contemporary dance pieces using movement material from classical Indian dance forms and melds it so well that it qualifies the transition from classical Bharatanatyam to contemporary Bharatanatyam. While the innovation lies in the choreography and movement language, the work holds true to traditional jathis and its invocatory reference to Gods. I felt that the stage, which was too small for the original choreography, and the choice of performers, who were not classically trained, did not do justice to the piece.  One Day/ Tran Ly Ly, Vietnam - without a tradition As opposed to the earlier countries discussed, Vietnam does not have the benefit of inheriting a rich cultural heritage. Defining a tradition here is problematic. According to Franz Xavier Augustin, Regional Director of Goethe-Institut, Jakarta, who moderated the post-video talk for Tran, the Vietnamese people, having survived a regime that resulted in a cultural genocide, are hard-pressed to define what ‘tradition’ means. As a reaction to their long suppression, the discussion implied that the motivations for choreography and dance movements are based on the premise of “rebellion,” perhaps in the same way that modern dance is a reaction to structures and rules. What differentiates Vietnam is that the process of enculturation occurred in the country itself, while the rest is the outcome of overseas experience and exposure. The colonial French sought to educate the locals on what culture really means. As such, the current generation of Vietnamese dancers and choreographers are more in tuned with western dance forms; and even with existing hill-tribe cultures, the dancers and choreographers are somewhat removed from it.
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I had the misfortune of missing the final discussion entitled “Rethinking Tradition,” and therefore, cannot provide a satisfactory conclusion to the prospect of ‘tradition’ and its transformation process. However, what I can offer, are my personal observations, which I hope, documents contemporary traditions and the current transformation approaches and processes across this region.
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