JAKARTA – A maestro from the Land of Java, of Chinese descent, and a master of Legong Dance from the Island of the Gods, Bali. The master who has never stopped making masterpieces has a special bond with the sacred and classical Legong Dance.
Who is he?
He is Didik Nini Thowok. With the real name Didik Hadiprayitno, SST, the man who was specially present at the ‘Jnana Prabha Yadnya’ performance with Sanggar Tari Bali (STB) Legong Indonesia at Taman Ismail Marzuki on Saturday (29/6) has a special story about Legong.
Thanks to Anak Agung Gede Ariawan or also known as Gung De Ariawan, the owner of STB Legong Indonesia, The Editor had the opportunity to meet Didik in his private dressing room.
Green eyes, red lips, and a face adorned with dazzling make-up made him look like a ‘Doll from India’ that afternoon.
“That’s what I often share with the younger generation. If we learn from a dance teacher, the dance helps us to succeed and it becomes our profession, we have to repay the kindness of the teacher. We don’t just pay (the cost of dance lessons) and then we’re done. Knowledge is not finished just like that,” Didik said, starting his conversation with The Editor.
Why did he say that?
A graduate of the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) Yogyakarta, young Didik Nini Thowok chose Legong Dance as the classical dance for his final exam.
After being authorized by his supervisor, he immediately learnt the Balinese dance from a nurse who had graduated from the Bali Arts High School. The nurse was working in Temanggung at the time.
Not only that, while studying at ISI Yogyakarta, which at that time was still called ASTI, Didik also studied Legong Dance specifically with two senior lecturers.
From there, his adventure to meet a Saba-style Legong Dance maestro from Puri Saba named I Gusti Gde Raka Saba began.
Successfully achieve the highest score
Didik managed to achieve the highest score in the classical dance final exam at ISI Yogyakarta at that time through Legong Bapang Saba Dance.
As time went by, his career as a dancer increased. The figure who later became a maestro who is adept at dancing all kinds of dances in the world turned out to want to contribute to Pura Saba, the place where he used to study.
One of the things he did was to make a recording of the Legong Bapang Saba Dance which is the hallmark of Puri Saba.
Why is that?

Legong Dance from Puri Saba was part of the regular curriculum at vocational dance schools throughout Bali, even ISI Yogyakarta. Unfortunately, not a single video recording was available to learn this dance in the past.
“I feel indebted, I want to repay the kindness of my late teacher. In Balinese terms, Ngayah. Ngayah dancers don’t get paid, they do something for God,” he explains.
Hence, in 2006, Didik and his two friends, Nunik Anurningsih and Ace Robin, collaborated to provide a video recording of a Legong Dance taught by Puri Saba.
“At that time, 2006, I had the idea together with Miss Nunik Annur Ningsih and Miss Aje Rupim who both had Caucasian husbands. They were not dancers,” he said.
“I told them that I wanted to do something for Puri Saba.
“Well, if you are a Ngayah dancer, you dance in the temple. I made a recording of Saba Style Legong Dance,” he said.
One to note, Legong Bapang Saba Dance is taught in dance schools at vocational schools and ISI, but there is no professional recording.
“I consider it as my ngayah to Puri Saba,” he said.
Holding The First Dancing Concert in Bali with Ticket Price IDR150.000
Didik’s wish was welcomed by many parties. Many of them want to become official sponsors in the making of the video. Such as: Studio Maharani Record, Garuda Indonesia, Sun Roof Beach Hotel, and many more.

The dancers who will accompany Didik on stage also come from Puri Saba. With all the perfect preparations, he dared to sell tickets to tourists at Rp150,000.
“It’s really expensive. There was someone who wrote that a Balinese said, ‘150,000 is very expensive’, ‘In Bali, there have never been tickets sold that expensive,” he said.
“I said, ‘It’s okay’, I want to show the quality that teaching people should value high art. And ‘It’s sold out,” he added with a proud smile.
At that time, Didik managed to produce 4 Legong Bapang Saba Dance. Among them: Legong Lasem Style Saba Dance, Legong Bapang Saba Dance, Legong Candra Kanta Dance, and Legong Smarandana Dance.
And since then, in each of his performances of Legong Dance, both at home and abroad, he always brings along the owner of STB Legong Indonesia studio Gung De Ariawan to perform.
This is because the owner of STB Legong Indonesia is the grandson of Legong Dance Maestro I Gusti Gede Rakhe Sabhe, the person who taught Didik Nini Thowok to learn Legong Dance at Puri Saba, Island of the Gods, Bali.
Didik himself admitted that he always attends every event organized by STB Legong Indonesia. One of them was the ‘Jnana Prabha Yadnya’ performance at the end of May 2024.
STB Legong collaborated with Didik Nini Thowok and other artists such as I Gusti Ngurah Serama Semadi, musicians from Indonesian Children and Yout Choir-Cordana, Sanggar Gita Mustika Budaya Cigantung, and composer Wahyu Ethnica, choreographer Agung Giri Putra.