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ON REPETITION Melati Suryodarmo (Indonesia)
It is the body that I am using as the main medium in my performance works. I consider my body is a container of paths and memories, and therefore it is an endless inspiring resource to unveil and to collect materials. For me the body has the capacity to connect and create lines between realities such those from our socio-cultural and political environments. I seriously consider the body as a “living archive� which every individual can store many aspects of life, including psychological and cognitive experiences. I like the idea in the learning process of traditional dance performance. It is carried by the teacher and further given to the younger generation. Every time there are some changes and adaptation in the techniques as well as the effort to contextualizing the meaning of the dance, in which, for me, it is representing the nature of tradition. As tradition has the potential to adapt in the constant changing society, nurturing tradition means putting the
position of the living archive, the body that carries the knowledges, into the main role. Practically, in the process of developing new ideas, I often re-visit my archives such as photo and video documentation, notes, sketches, objects in order to activate senses, memory, reflection and my body as attached living archive. At this opportunity, I would like to share how the notion of repetition has been continuously carried through my practice in performance art and dance. I have been interested in the notion of repetition since I came to the music composition of Steve Reich and Terry Riley in 1994. And I was triggered by the repetition in the Balinese Gamelan, and Gandrang Makassar, traditional music instruments and orchestra which the structure of playing them is built through repetition. In 2000, I danced on butter, fell down and got up, fell down and got up again. I came to precise moments when patterns of behavior are repeated, even when I know I take risks. I dance with the sound of Gandrang.
