THE EDITOR – Not many choreographers and directors in this world are brave and able to create colossal mask dance dramas due to its high level of difficulty.
This was revealed by the Maestro of Dance and Mask from the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) Surakarta Hari Mulyatno when he was invited to talk with The Editor about the existence of Bedhayan Topeng Dance (Bedhayan Mask Dance) by Toni Haryo Saputro which is rarely shown to the public by the director himself.
“The dance created by Mr. Toni is actually the rare kind because it is made in a semi-colossal form and it requires a large number of dancers. Why do I say that? Because mask dance is difficult to work on, the moves are difficult. That’s why this kind of dance is rarely found everywhere, even in the world. You can’t even find it on YouTube,” Hari Mulyatno said.
One to note, Toni Haryo Saputro is a Bedhaya Topeng Dance Director, one of whose works was used by the founder of Mustika Ratu Mooryati Soedibyo.
Toni himself specifically created Bedhaya Topeng Dance to be performed to the public in Solo as a form of his love for the world of dance.
In the near future, the public will be able to watch a performance of Bedhaya Topeng Dance in a festival.
According to Hari, the reappearance of Bedhaya Topeng will be phenomenal because of the dance’s above-average level of difficulty.
In fact, he also said that Toni’s work succeeded in renewing the repertoire of Javanese culture.
“It’s very difficult to create a mask dance, especially in a group. For Javanese culture, this is a novelty as it uses a mask like bedhaya. This is a very difficult novelty,” he said.
HOW DIFFICULT THIS DANCE TO WORK ON?
Although it is only 12 minutes long, Toni said, dancing with very smooth and slow movements while wearing a mask is not an easy thing.
“That’s because of technical difficulties. Moreover, Javanese dance is subtle, the more subtle the more difficult,” Hari said.
A dancer must be able to move beyond normal facial movements in general in order to make the mask come alive and not monotonous.
In addition, the dancer and the mask must also move in harmony. If not, the mask will not move in the direction of the face and eyes to be shown.
“The mask has more movement than the face without the mask. So if you turn your head, without a mask, you can turn your head. But with a mask, not necessarily. So you need more movement. That’s not easy. The neck can get hurt because of it. If it’s not over-moved, then the mask doesn’t move,” he said.
Hari praised Toni for choreographing his work on Bedhayan Topeng to perfection. There has never been a director who can handle group mask dancers perfectly.
Moreover, in Indonesia itself there is no choreographer who can educate group dancers where the number of dancers is more than two people.
“He’s able to create a group dance with masks that is difficult to work on. The choreographer has to handle one person at a time,” he said.
Hari believes that audience will be impressed by Toni’s Bedhayan Topeng because, according to his observations, the director managed to make the dancers’ masks live and move in harmony with their bodies.
“Mr. Toni’s mask dance, the dancer does not master the mask he wears, so there must be a choreographer like Mas Toni to direct it,” he said.
SEARCHING FOR ART LOVERS WHO WANT TO HELP INTRODUCE BEDHAYAN TOPENG TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC
The Editor also had the opportunity to meet and interview Toni about the Bedhayan Topeng that he will be performing in this year’s festival.
Toni said that personally, he wants his Bedhayan Topeng to be enjoyed by many people for free.
However, he did not want to release a work without perfect preparation. For this reason, the dancers he invited to participate in his Bedhayan Topeng were graduates of ISI Surakarta.
Not only that, he also wanted to give a special treat by inviting musical accompanists from Solo who are well known for their prowess such as Lumbini Trihasto who always works with him.
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