Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Sisingaan

Sisingaan is a unique arts community Sundanese (West Java) which shows a lion puppet 2-4 carried by the players while dancing. Stuffed lion on top of that normally carried a child seat to be circumcised, or a public figure. There are several versions about the origins of art that grew and developed in the West Javanese society is. The first version says that sisingaan appeared around the year 70's. It was on the bridge in West Java in TMII art show mutual sisingaan lion or the shape is still simple. And, from appearances in West Java bridge that later became known sisingaan arts community today.

The second version says that the art sisingaan circa 1840 created by the artists who come from Ciherang area, about 5 km from Kota Subang. At that time, Subang regency had become "owned" the Dutch and English with established P & T Lands. This causes like local government Subang be double, because politically dominated by the Dutch, but economically under the influence of the businessmen P & T Lands. As a result, the people of Subang become very miserable. In these circumstances, the arts sisingaan born as a form of popular resistance against the occupiers of both nations. And, to assert that sisingaan art is a form of resistance, then used two puppets lion is a symbol of the Dutch and the British state. Therefore, to this day in every game sisingaan always displayed at least two stuffed lions.

In a further development, the arts sisingaan not only spread to other areas in Subang District, but also to other districts in West Java, like Bandung Regency, Purwakarta and Sumedang. Apart from spreading to some areas, this art is also experiencing growth, both in the form of a lion puppet refinement, the arrangement of dance, costume players, as well as waditra and the songs being played.

Players
The players are generally sisingaan men joined in a group consisting of: 8 people penggotong lion puppet (1 doll carried by 4 people), a leader of the group, some waditra players, and one or two people jajangkungan (players who using wood for as long as 3-4 meters walk). These players are people who have special skills, both in dancing and playing waditra. Special skill is necessary owned by each player, because in a show of collective sisingaan needed a solid team for all dance movement that is played while carrying a stuffed lion can be in harmony with the music played by the nayaga.

Venue and Equipment Gaming
Arts sisingaan generally shown during the day with around the village during a circumcision ceremony, welcoming the great, the inauguration of the village head, the celebration of independence day and so on. The duration of a gig sisingaan usually takes a long time, depending on the area whether or not to be surrounded by homes.

Equipment used in the game sisingaan are: (1) two or four stretchers lion puppet. Stretcher frame and the head of a lion puppets are made of wood and bamboo are wrapped with cloth and given a seat on his back. Meanwhile, for the feathers in the head and tail made of yarn raffia. For the record, once a lion-shaped bier is made of wood with feathers from the rafters and the flowers are usually made in a snap in time to hold the show. So, first sisingaan not permanent, but only used once and then discarded; (2) waditra set consisting of: two large drums (percussion and drums ovarian children), a trumpet, three beats (bonangs), a kentrung (kulanter ), a small gong, and a kecrek.; and (3) fashion players consisting of: a pair shucks / pangsi, iket barangbang semplak, clothing and footwear taqwa tarumpah or salompak.

Performing Sisingaan
Sisingaan show begins with words of welcome by the group leader. After the group leader gives a speech said, then the child will be circumcised or community leaders who will be paraded welcome to climb the lion doll. Furthermore, beating accompaniment tool with songs brought the rhythmic dynamic as a sign of the beginning of the show. Then, a number of 8 players will begin to carry two lion doll (a doll carried by 4 people).

After the lion puppet penggotong ready, then the leader will start giving the cue for them to start doing the dance movements in unison and together. The doll penggotong immediately akrobatis movements are quite exciting. Dance movements are usually played by the puppet lion penggotong are: igeul ngayun glempang, plug / horse-riding, mincid, padungdung, gugulingan, bangkaret, put up, kicking two, step back, kael, ewag, jeblang, Jakarta, Solor , sesenggehan, genying, turn taktak, nanggeuy lions, lift jungjung, ngolecer, symbol, pasagi tilu, literacy cau, nincak rancatan, and kakapalan.

Meanwhile, the songs played by kawih interpreters to accompany the dances are usually drawn from the arts Tilu Tap, Doger, and Kliningan, such as: drought, Song, Titipatipa, Gondang, Kasreng, Gurudugan, Mapay Roko, Kembang prasina, Kangsring, Kembang Beureum, Fruit Kawung, Gondang, Tenggong Petit, Sesenggehan, Badudud, Tunggul Kawing, Side battered, Sireum Beureum, and the song Interlude (Siyur, Tepang Sono, Awet Rajet, Salira Fiber, Honey and Poison, Mr. Wonderful, Goyang Dombret, etc. Warudoyong ).

The show is performed while sisingaan around the village or the village, until finally returning to its place. And, with the dancers arriving in their place, then the show was over.

Cultural Values
Art as an expression of the human soul is certainly contain aesthetic values, including traditional arts sisingaan that ditumbuh developed by the community Ciherang, Subang regency. However, if examined in depth sisingaan contains not only the aesthetic value alone, but there are other values that in turn can be used as a reference in daily life for the community supporters. These values include cooperation, cohesiveness, order, dam persistence. The value of cooperation seen from the togetherness in preserving the cultural heritage of his predecessors. Cohesiveness and order value is reflected in a performance that can run smoothly. Value of hard work and persistence is reflected in the mastery of dance movements.

Calung

Calung is a Sundanese musical instrument is a prototype of the angklung. Unlike the angklung played by shaken, how to beat calung is mepukul stem (wilahan, bar) of segments (bamboo tube), composed by titi barrel (scales) pentatonic (da-mi-na-ti-la) . Types of bamboo for making most of awi calung wulung (black bamboo), but some are made from awi temen (white bamboo).

Understanding calung than as a musical instrument is also attached with the term performance art. There are two forms of Sundanese calung known, namely calung calung chain and portable.

Calung chain
Calung dideretkan tube bar chain with a leather strap hibiscus (lulub) from the largest to the smallest, in number 7 wilahan (bamboo 7) or more. Composition of the instrument there is a row and there is also a two-row (calung ovarian and calung child / calung rincik). How to play the chain calung hit with both hands as he sat bersilah, usually calung is tied to a tree or a cubicle house (calung Banjaran chain-Bandung), have also made shelf "cradle" of special bamboo / wood, for example in Cibalong tarawangsa calung and Cipatujah , Tasikmalaya, calung chain in Banjaran and Baduy / Baduy.

Calung Jingjing
The carry-shaped rows calung pitched bamboo held together with a small piece of bamboo (paniir). Calung tote of four or five fruits, such as calung kingking (consisting of 12 bamboo tubes), calung panepas (5 / 3 and 2 bamboo tubes), calung jongjrong (5 / 3 and 2 bamboo tubes), and calung barking (2 tubes bamboo). Calung completeness in its development today there are only using one kingking calung, and panempas calung two barking one, without using jongjrong calung hit with a way to play it using the right hand bat, and his left hand carrying / holding the instrument. While other inter menabuhnya techniques dimelodi, dikeleter, dikemprang, dikempyung, diraeh, dirincik, dirangkep (diracek), salancar, corkscrew and solorok.

Jaipong Dance

http://www.harsanari.com/images/SF%20State%20Girls.jpgIn 1961, Indonesian President Sukarno prohibited rock and roll and other western genres of music, and challenged Indonesian musicians to revive the indigenous arts. Gugum Gumbira took up the challenge, and studied rural dance and festival music for twelve years. Jaipongan, or Jaipong, was the most popular result of his study, derived from the updating of a village ritual music called ketuk tilu, with moves from Pencak Silat, the Indonesian martial art, and music from the masked theater dance, Topeng Banjet, and the Wayang Golek puppet theater.

In the original ketuk tilu, the group typically consists of the ketuk tilu pot-gong, other small gongs, a rebab (spike fiddle), barrel drums, and a female singer-dancer (ronggeng) who is often also a prostitute, who invites men to dance with her sensually. Gugum expanded the drum section as part of an urban gamelan orchestra, sped up the music, redefined the singer as just a singer (sinden), and came up with the catchy onomatopoeic name. Many listeners consider the music very complex, with the dynamic rhythm liable to change seemingly randomly.

Jaipongan debuted in 1974 when Pak Gugum and his gamelan and dancers first performed in public. Sporadic government attempts to suppress it due to its perceived immorality (it inherited some of the sensuality of ketuk tilu) just made it more popular. It survived even after the official Indonesian ban on foreign pop music was lifted after a few years, and became a craze in the 1980s. Since the mid-1980s Jaipongan’s importance as a social dance has waned, but it remained popular as a stage dance, performed by women, mixed couples or as a solo.

The most widely available album of Jaipongan outside Indonesia is "Tonggeret", featuring singer Idjah Hadidjah and Gugum Gumbira's Jugala orchestra, released in 1987, and re-released as part of "WestJava: Sundanese Jaipong and other Popular Music", by Nonesuch Records under their Explorer Series label.