The feel of Indonesian filled up the stage at Ciputra Artpreneur Theater at the dress rehearsal for the Indonesia Ballet Gala on Friday.

Aside from the ethnic costumes and stage props at the inaugural Indonesian Ballet Gala, the arm movements and rhythmical pace of Indonesian dancers were distinct.

Although the dancers came from different ballet schools, the movement was heavily influenced by Indonesian traditional dances.

The first group that performed was a group of dancers from Ballet Sumber Cipta. They presented Tok — a love story with a twist choreographed by school founder Farida Oetoyo.

The 20-minute dance also focused on lower body movements to bring out the dynamic change of emotions in the story.

While lead dancers wore Balinese masks, the corps de ballet wore batik clothes over their leotards, which they also used as props to express harmony, anger and the peace that comes at last.

Lead dancers Marich Prakoso and Ann Bellayo displayed a strong chemistry in their bold movements and in conveying emotions beyond their masks.

Marlupi Dance Academy dancers took over the stage for the second show in a festive mood. Performing The Journey choreographed by Claresta Alim, 20 dancers in Balinese-themed costumes celebrated the Balinese way of life from dawn to midday until late in the day.

Fifi Sijangga, artistic director of Marlupi Dance Academy, said the dancers spent two months practicing.

“We are very specific about this, we don’t want to make any mistakes in adapting Balinese dance movements in The Journey,” she said at the press conference after the rehearsal.

The Nawang Wulan dance by Namarina Youth Dance closed the first act of the performance with the graceful, classical ballet dance of the “fairies” on pointe shoes contrasted with the bold, strong moves of the “humans”.

There were many firsts at the Indonesian Ballet Gala on Saturday, which ran at two separate times, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.

It was the first of its kind in the country and the first time for the three major ballet schools to share the stage.

“I’m excited that our ballet school was picked as one of three Indonesian representatives at the event,” said Sumber Cipta artistic director Arya Yudistira Sjuman.

K-Ballet: South Korean dancers Lee Eun-won (left) and Lee Jae-woo perform a pas de deux from Don Quixote at the dress rehearsal of the first Indonesian Ballet Gala at Ciputra Artpreneur Theater in Jakarta on Friday.(JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)

Maya Tamara of Namarina said that the schools had been around for about 60 years and were still working on finding a place for their dancers to work professionally.

“Why don’t we work together to establish a national ballet company by 2020 regardless of whether or not there is government support? We can do it,” she said, holding hands with her fellow ballet masters Fifi and Yudi.

Initiated by a group of ballet enthusiasts Yayasan Bina Ballet Indonesia (ballet.id), the event which it is hoped, will to be held biennially, aimed at promoting Indonesian ballet worldwide, while at the same time convincing the Indonesian government and the people that there is such a thing as Indonesian ballet.

To achieve that, the organizer also invited world-class dancers from Australia, Czechoslovakia and South Korea to show how diverse ballet can be and for local dancers to watch and learn from the masters.

Australians Juliet Burnett, a former member of The Australian Ballet, and her dance partner, Christopher Hill of West Australian Ballet, performed the never-old duet in Giselle, while Czech pair Barbora Kohoutkova and Lukas Slavicky, who is the principal dancer in Bayerisches Staatsballett, performed a duet from Swan Lake.

Also among the speakers at the press conference were West Australian Ballet artistic director Aurelien Scannella and Korean National Ballet artistic director Kang Sue-jin, both of whom pledged their support to the event.

“Ballet is not only about the dance or the techniques, it is also about the soul,” said Kang.

Her large entourage, mostly male dancers, performed a wide range of ballet — the classical, contemporary and comical ballet — to satisfy audiences with different tastes.

They performed the grand duet in Don Quixote, a funny solo dance called Ballet 101, the dramatic duet Little Monsters, the fascinating Are You as Big as Me? — an adaptation of The Three Monkeys — and two pieces from the Korean classic Prince Hodong.

“For the gala we bring out many forms of ballet to make it easier for the audience to like what they see. We will return next time with more,” Kang said.

The feel of Indonesian filled up the stage at Ciputra Artpreneur Theater at the dress rehearsal for the Indonesia Ballet Gala on Friday.

Aside from the ethnic costumes and stage props at the inaugural Indonesian Ballet Gala, the arm movements and rhythmical pace of Indonesian dancers were distinct.

Although the dancers came from different ballet schools, the movement was heavily influenced by Indonesian traditional dances.

The first group that performed was a group of dancers from Ballet Sumber Cipta. They presented Tok '€” a love story with a twist choreographed by school founder Farida Oetoyo.

The 20-minute dance also focused on lower body movements to bring out the dynamic change of emotions in the story.

While lead dancers wore Balinese masks, the corps de ballet wore batik clothes over their leotards, which they also used as props to express harmony, anger and the peace that comes at last.

Lead dancers Marich Prakoso and Ann Bellayo displayed a strong chemistry in their bold movements and in conveying emotions beyond their masks.

Marlupi Dance Academy dancers took over the stage for the second show in a festive mood. Performing The Journey choreographed by Claresta Alim, 20 dancers in Balinese-themed costumes celebrated the Balinese way of life from dawn to midday until late in the day.

Fifi Sijangga, artistic director of Marlupi Dance Academy, said the dancers spent two months practicing.

'€œWe are very specific about this, we don'€™t want to make any mistakes in adapting Balinese dance movements in The Journey,'€ she said at the press conference after the rehearsal.

The Nawang Wulan dance by Namarina Youth Dance closed the first act of the performance with the graceful, classical ballet dance of the '€œfairies'€ on pointe shoes contrasted with the bold, strong moves of the '€œhumans'€.

There were many firsts at the Indonesian Ballet Gala on Saturday, which ran at two separate times, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.

It was the first of its kind in the country and the first time for the three major ballet schools to share the stage.

'€œI'€™m excited that our ballet school was picked as one of three Indonesian representatives at the event,'€ said Sumber Cipta artistic director Arya Yudistira Sjuman.