Lead the way: Rubiyah raises her keris commanding her troops during a rebellion in the third part of Permata Jawa.

What happens when a member of Javanese royalty who has passion for the arts decides to translate current social issues into a performance?

In Permata Jawa (Javanese Jewels), composer Atilah Soeryadjaja, who is also a member of the Surakarta-based keraton (Javanese palace), puts on a performance that is so rich in Javanese culture yet at the same time exudes an aura that is not so Javanese at all.

Jewels are often associated with bright sparkles and luxuries, but in Permata Jawa Atilah chooses not to display any of these attributes. Instead, she presents darkness, despair and rage in her way of delivering what she thinks to be the current ills of society.

The jewels, Atilah said, were represented in the traditional Javanese art forms performed in Permata Jawa and they were the macapat (a form of Javanese poetry that is sung a cappella), the gamelan (a traditional Javanese orchestra), the cangkeman (a traditional Javanese singing method and music) and the wayang orang (human puppet) dance.

Great ending: Raden Mas Said and his wife Rubiyah pose together with other warriors at the performance finale.

Atilah divides the Permata Jawa performance into three parts.

The first part features a performance of the macapat delivered by four singers '€” two males and two females. They performed the Serat Wedhatama lyrics, which were composed by Grand Duke Mangkunegara IV. Atilah is a direct descendant of Mangkunegara IV.

The lyrics are about the main ideas of the Javanese philosophy on how humans should live and learn about their respective places on Earth. It basically conveys the message of the importance of humility and respect for each other.

There was almost no light used at all during the first part of the performance. The only lights available on the stage were two candles positioned in front of the performers.

In a melodious harmony, the four performers read out Serat Wedhatama using a canonical delivery. The macapat can, in a way, be very similar to rap with its fast-paced delivery and rhyming. The combined elements of minimal lights and melodic a cappella readings of an ancient Javanese script enveloped the audience in a mystical aura as they prepared themselves for the second part of the performance.

In the second part, the four singers were accompanied by a gamelan ensemble. There was something unique with the gamelan as it also featured a modern drum cymbal. Atilah said that the inclusion of the cymbal was her way to present something current from modern culture for the audience.

Melodious harmony: A gamelan traditional ensemble accompanies four singers in the second part of the performance.

Other than the mixture of traditional and modern elements, the second part also presented a unique mix of paradox. On one hand, Atilah featured a very Javanese presentation with the use of the gamelan and the cangkeman, but on the other hand, the profane, vulgar and sarcastic lyrics that she composed for the performers to utter were not so Javanese.

In traditional Javanese culture, criticism is often conveyed using politically correct harmonies instead of sarcasm, let alone profanity or expletives. However, in the second part, Atilah did not hesitate to use the word jancuk (the f-word in English) and ndableg (idiot) in her lyrics.

In a sense, there was a lot of anger inside the lyrics that Atilah had composed. This rage and anger, however, was also delivered in a paradox as the performers presented them with a lot of smiles, laughter and displays of comedic facial expressions.

Atilah said that the second part was indeed a representation of angst and rage toward the current social condition.

'€œI just feel I would like to represent the sentiments of the poor. I went home to Solo [Surakarta] and I visited villages. I saw their hardship and I felt I had to create something that represented them and their feelings,'€ Atilah said after a recent performance of Permata Jawa in Jakarta.

'€œThe angry and raging lyrics were composed to represent the poor.'€

To end Permata Jawa, Atilah decided to take a set from her previous work, Matah Ati, as the third and final part of the performance.

Warrior couple: Raden Mas Said (center left) walks beside wife Rubiyah during a rebellion in the third part.

Matah Ati is a traditional Javanese wayang orang dance performance and the set told a story of the hardships faced by the poor Javanese during the 18th century and a rebellion led by a young girl named Rubiyah and a knight from Surakarta, Raden Mas Said.

The presentation of Matah Ati featured more lighting techniques, accessories and detailed traditional Javanese costumes. The dynamic choreography, in which the dancers performed battle scenes and keris (traditional Javanese dagger) fighting, served as an epic closing for Permata Jawa.

The overall presentation of Permata Jawa was a result of brainstorming between Atilah and Jay Subiyakto, an artistic director who is well known for his skills in set lighting and stages.

'€œI wanted to go really old school Javanese in presenting this performance. I really wanted a taste of ancient Javanese originality. There was almost no light at all during theatrical performances in ancient Javanese. So, that is why this performance is presented with minimal lighting,'€ Jay said.

'€œAs for the three-part presentation, we decided to divide the performance to keep the general emotion and mood of the audience.

'€œIn the first part, we tried to ease the audience a bit with the melodic macapat and then we brought the tempo far up in the second part. As the audience came to life after the closing of the second part, we closed down by giving them an epic in the final part. This is proven to be very effective because, as you can see, none of the audience fell asleep despite of the fact that what we presented was a traditional performance.'€

Atilah said that after the performance in Jakarta, she had plans to bring Permata Jawa, which she composed in only three months, on an international tour in the future.

'€œPermata Jawa was actually debuted in Japan in January, but we are trying to perform it in more countries. Let'€™s just wait and see,'€ she said.

'€” Photos by JP/Hans David Tampubolon