Cry Jailolo & Balabala program

Photo: Bernie Ng, courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

CRY JAILOLO & BALABALA

EKOSDANCE COMPANY | INDONESIA

CRY JAILOLO

BALABALA

EKOSDANCE COMPANY | INDONESIA WORLD PREMIERE SEASON CARRIAGEWORKS BAY 17 7–10 JANUARY 55 MINS

Choreographer Eko Supriyanto Dancers Veyndi Dangsa, Greatsia Yobel Yunga, Fernandito Wangelaha, Gery Gerardo Bella, Noveldi Bontenan, Arzhy Lefry Noky & Fernando Migar Lighting Design/Scenographer Iskandar K. Loedin Music Composition Setyawan Jayantoro Dramaturg Arco Renz Costume Designer Retno Tan Tour Manager Isa Natadiningrat Producer Jala Adolphus Production EkosDance Company Supported by Namto Hui Roba, Regent of Jailolo, Pemerintah Daerah Kabupaten Halmahera Barat and Kantor Pemuda Olah Raga Kebudayaan and Pariwisata, Kabupaten Halmahera Barat, Kompleks Sasadu Lamo, Acango – Jailolo Halmahera Barat, Maluku Utara – Indonesia

ABOUT THE WORK Cry Jailolo was developed during choreographer Eko Supriyanto’s work on a major festival to promote tourism in Jailolo. Home to some of the world’s greatest diving, Jailolo is also a region subject to serious environmental degradation. During his time on the island, Supriyanto began to see the communities and underwater diving worlds as much more than a tourism campaign. He became deeply invested in the community, and started working with young people from disadvantaged regions and homes. Profoundly affected by these relationships and the experience of the underwater world, Supriyanto began to develop a contemporary dance work with a selection of committed young men. This became Cry Jailolo, a work

of “silent tourism”. Cry Jailolo gives voice to the remote community of West Halmahera through performance, and through the talent and dedication of these young men.

DR. EKO SUPRIYANTO MFA Founder and Artistic Director of EkosDance Company and Solo Dance Studio in Surakarta Indonesia, Eko Supriyanto is the leading Indonesian dancer and choreographer of his generation.

Trained in Javanese court dances and the Indonesian martial arts of Pencak Silat since the age of seven, Supriyanto’s performance career spans major works and tours throughout Indonesia, Europe, America and the Asia Pacific. Supriyanto holds a PhD in Performance Studies (2014) from Gadjah Mada University and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Dance and Choreography from the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures (2001).

Supriyanto’s performance career stretches from major commercial productions to dance research projects. He was enlisted as a dance consultant for Julie Taymor’s The Lion King on Broadway and both choreographed and performed for major international productions including Peter Sellars’ Le Grand Macabre, John Adam’s opera Flowering Tree in Vienna, the Barbican Centre in London and the Lincoln Centre in New York, Garin Nugroho’s Opera Jawa, MAU/Lemi Ponifasio’s w and solid.states with Arco Renz. He was also a featured dancer in Madonna’s 2001 Drowned World Tour.

Cry Jailolo has received great acclaim and toured extensively throughout Japan, Australia and Europe.

Combined with this piece, Supriyanto has developed a discourse surrounding silent tourism and performance research through the work The Future of Dance is Under Water which addresses Indonesia’s strong marine culture.

Choreographer Eko Supriyanto Dancers Yimna Meylia Meylan Runggamusi, Siti Sadia Akil Djalil, Yezyuruni Forinti, Mega Istqama Arman Dano Saleh & Dian Novita Lifu Music Composition Nyak Ina Raseuki Lighting & Stage Design Iskander K. Loedin Creative Presence Arco Renz Costume Designers Oscar Lawalata & Erika Dian Rehearsal Director Kamran Akil Djalil Tour Manager Isa Natadiningrat Producer Jala Adolphus Production EkosDance Company

Photo: David Fajar

EKOSDANCE COMPANY | INDONESIA CARRIAGEWORKS BAY 17 7–10 JANUARY 60 MINS

CHOREOGRAPHER’S NOTE

ABOUT THE WORK

Five young women from Jailolo give voice to the remote community of Eastern Indonesia. Slow, rhythmic movement patterns create an image of strength, not in protest nor opposition but through the carving of space. Space for the individual amidst the noise of duties. A space of potential, of creation, held by the women of remote regions.

In Balabala, hierarchies of culture and gender give way to the strength of these young women. Founded on the Pencak Silat (Indonesian martial arts) philosophy of the nine directions and the multiple roles of women in Indonesia, Balabala is a powerful new contribution to contemporary dance.

In this work Eko Supriyanto has created a space for the dancers to explore the layers of their own history, society and movement vocabularies. Following his own discourse on “silent tourism” (creating a space for the personal within the collective), Balabala is a dialogue between slow, isolated movements and the collective pulse of the ensemble. The dancers embody the notion of strength in remote regions as a practice of fluidity.

Throughout Eastern Indonesia, the role of women in society is often strained by patriarchal structures and, although rarely discussed, domestic violence is a pervasive issue. After initially working with 350 teenagers for the tourism festival, I wished to work on a piece with the women of Jailolo and to create a space for their voices to be heard. The success of Cry Jailolo has deepened the trust and relations with the community, and made it possible to embark on this work.

Balabala establishes a space for the young dancers to reconfigure the layers of their own history, society and movement vocabularies. Based on the Cakelel (a war dance from West Halmahera) and Soya Soya (from North Maluku), which are both conventionally performed by males, the girls take the art of war preparation onto their own bodies. In doing so they recall a period of time in the 1960s when the Cakelel was performed by the women of Tobelo, linking the generations and re-establishing the space women hold in Eastern Indonesia.

My work in Jailolo has created pathways for transformation.

Jala Adolphus Co-produced by Kommunitas Salihara, AsiaTOPA, deSingel Internationale Kunstcampus, TPAM – Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama 2017 Executive Committee, Sydney Festival, Mousonturm, Fabrik Potsdam, National Performing Arts Center – National Theater & Concert Hall, Taiwan R.O.C.

Sydney Festival wishes to thank Keir Foundation and Sydney Festival Associate Producers for helping to make this production possible.

BLOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR

CARRIAGEWORKS BAY 20 21–25 JANUARY

ILBIJERRI THEATRE COMPANY & JACOB BOEHME | AUSTRALIA

“BOEHME IS MARVELLOUS...

AN ENTERTAINING, MOVING WORK THAT ELICITS AS MUCH EMPATHY AS LAUGHTER” THE AGE Photo: Dorine Blaise

STILL LIFE

CARRIAGEWORKS BAY 17 27–29 JANUARY

DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU | GREECE

“BRILLIANT. AN INTELLIGENT, ENGAGING, AND SUPERBLYPERFORMED GREEK WORK...

A SILENTLY HOWLING, EXISTENTIAL DRAMA” Photo: Julian Mommert

DAGENS NYHETER