L

earning Javanese art and culture is like going on an endless journey.

This is the conviction of Jeannie Park, 43, an American-born mother of two, of Korean descent. Interested and engaged in Javanese classical dance since the age of nine, she never feels she has finished learning despite her accomplishments in this art.

“When I’ve managed to open one door, 10 other doors are challenging inside and so it goes on. It’s an illustration of learning Javanese culture, which amounts to an attempt to understand life with all its mysteries, making it an unending journey. This in itself is indeed a challenge and an amazing art of life,” said Jeannie, who is now an Indonesian citizen and lives Kembaran, Bantul, Yogyakarta.

She began to nurture her love of Javanese culture when she got acquainted with Javanese classical dance as a child. She watched a beautiful dance performed by Rama Sasminta Mardawa, who lectured at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), US, in 1979.

Little Jeannie, who had learned Balinese and Indian dances at the time, turned to the Javanese classical art after observing Rama Sasminta’s superb rendering. She felt something subtle had touched and captivated her.

With Rama Sas’ introduction, she could figure the soul of Javanese culture through his dance, gaze, words, Javanese dress and personality.

“As soon as I saw Rama Sas, I believed he wasn’t just any dancer, he looked so great and fascinating. But it wasn’t easy to fathom any greater depth just by glimpsing, and there would be further endless thought and reflection. That’s Javanese culture,” she smilingly recalled.

Her admiration of Javanese culture made her determined to delve further into it on the land to which it belongs. So when she studied at UCLA, she visited Indonesia under a student exchange program in 1991.

Without wasting the opportunity, Jeannie learned Javanese classical dance at the Pujakusuman hall, Yogyakarta, where Rama Sasminta Mardawa taught the art.

“I was very fortunate to train under the direct instruction of Rama Sas, though only for three months,” she said with pride.

Sadly, she had to restrain her desire to learn Javanese dance. Her busy schedule as director of the Kohn Turner Gallery in Los Angeles after her graduation were very time-consuming, albeit absorbing.

However, when the Indonesian Consulate General in the US in 1995 opened a program for Americans to study Indonesian culture, Jeannie was excited. As the news came so suddenly, she had a very short time to meet the required conditions.

“After a fairly long wait, I got bored and forgot about it because of my routine. But in 1996, I passed the program’s selection. The dilemma of carrying on my career or studying Javanese culture forced me to take a one-year leave. As I was engrossed in the study in Indonesia, I sought more leave and three more extensions, until finally I decided to settle here,” she laughingly related.

When Jeannie Park returned to Indonesia in 1996 to continue her Javanese dance training, much to her grief, Rama Sas had passed on. So she learned from Ibu Sas, his wife.

“While learning, I received guidance and I experienced the aura of Javanese culture myself in the land of its origin. I was deeply impressed and enjoyed it very much,” said Jeannie, now executive director of Bagong Kussudiharjo Foundation, a Javanese art center in Kembaran, Bantul, Yogyakarta.

The deeper she dug into Javanese culture, the more she realized that it could only be understood through learning and experience. As she continued her search, she found Javanese culture engulfed in mysteries.

“It’s an atmosphere that abounds with challenges and adventures because in the end, learning to fathom Javanese culture is virtually attempting to comprehend life and its inherent mysteries,” she said in a whispering tone.

“Dance movements may be the same, but a dancer experiences some differences on stage. Javanese dance doesn’t merely teach or offer a wonderful choreography as an outward appearance. Rather, it invites one to get immersed in its soul and be faithfully engaged in its very dynamic process. That’s Javanese culture I’ve felt so far,” said the wife of Lantip Kuswala Daya, also a classical dancer.

Jeannie’s command of Javanese classical dance, including Bedaya and Srimpi court dances, has taken her to Singapore, Japan, Korea, America, Britain and other European countries, where she also performed wayang wong (classical dance drama), golek menak (wooden puppets) and mask dances. She has also earned an American award for art in 2005.

Married in 2000 and winning the best woman player’s trophy at the wayang wong festival in Yogyakarta in 2001, Jeannie indicated, “The Javanese indeed strive to preserve their culture, but external influence is also very intense.

Their comprehension of Javanese culture thus mostly ends in creations rather than in the process of self-exploration.”

As she has inherited Javanese culture, Jeannie also feels obliged to make every effort to hand it down amid current conditions, because superficial understanding of this culture without living through its soul will be hard to produce
Javanese dance maestros.

“The birth of dance maestros takes time due to the process required. By being faithful to the exploratory process, the aura of Javanese culture will reveal by itself through heartfelt words, gentle conduct, cordial gaze and pleasant personality without pretension,” Jeannie concluded.