The Soul of West Java is a performance of music and dance from Sunda (West Java) staged by the artists of Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia (STSI) Bandung, artistic director: Dwiki Dharmawan. Western Java, called also Sunda, with its capital city Bandung developed along the centuries an important and peculiar culture, differing from that of the Central and Eastern regions of the Island.
Sundanese people have created peculiar and refined musical and theatrical styles, using specific gamelan orchestras. In this performance dances are accompanied by a gamelan called saléndro.
Nowadays Sunda, and namely STSI Bandung, the most important Sundanese institution for education in the arts, participate in the movement of renovation of Indonesian art by creating new music and dance that develop traditional patterns, also incorporating elements deriving from other Indonesian regions or from transnational music culture.
Tari Merak (Peacock Dance) is a dance that depicts the elegant and agile movements of a peacock. The costumes of the female dancers refer to that bird. This modern dance is very popular in Java, especially in Western Java where it was created in the 1950s by the well-known dancer and choreographer Raden Tjetjep Soemantri.
This event was organized by the Intercultural Institute for Comparative Music Studies of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, STSI Bandung, Comune di Venezia.
Teatro Goldoni, Venice, 23 May 2010
More info on this event: old.cini.it/en/...
Video: Ivan Battain (Fondazione Scuola di San Giorgio)
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