The middle-aged man moves his body to the sound of the upbeat gamelan orchestra. He approaches a female dancer and skillfully slips an envelope to the latter’s hand, whispering: “hopefully my wife will have a safe labor tomorrow”. He is not the only one who shared his wish with one of the dancers. Most men share their hopes — good harvest, healthy progeny or better luck — when dancing with performers, slipping envelopes filled with thousands of rupiah banknotes.
The dancer, Nurlaela, wears a Javanese traditional strapless top or kemben tightly wrapped around her chest with a batik sarong underneath, a traditional outfit for a tayub dancer. She dances almost all night once the tayub saparan begins, usually before dusk.
Tayub Saparan is a 200-year-old tradition for villagers living on the southern side of Mount Sumbing. Originally, it is a thanksgiving gathering organized by villagers who had a plentiful harvest. People still believe if they whisper their burdens and hopes to the dancers, they will soon find solutions to whatever problems they are facing. Dancers — and also singers usually called ledhek – are considered as a medium to communicate with ancestors.
— Text and photos by Tarko Sudiarno
