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The Indonesian ballet of Farida Oetoyo
Ballet may have its origins in the West, but in Indonesia, it has been developed to take on an Indonesian character as we have a way of making everything we absorb from outside our borders our own. #opinion
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Davit Fitrik when dancing 'Urip Iku Urup' with music by Ananda Sukarlan and choreography by Chendra Panatan at 'Hommage a Farida Oetoyo’ on July 7, 2019 at Raffles Jakarta Hotel in South Jakarta. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
O
n Sunday I attended a very special event: Hommage a Farida Oetoyo (Tribute to Farida Oetoyo), a music and ballet soiree to mark what would have been her 80th birthday.
It was special not only because it was to celebrate an Indonesian ballet maestro of international caliber, but it was also hosted by Chendra Panatan, a devoted former ballet student of Farida’s, and Ananda Sukarlan, renowned Indonesian pianist and composer.
There was another reason for my eagerness to attend the event: It was a personal journey down memory lane. Farida (1939-2014), her late ex-husband, the prominent film director Sjumanjaya (1934-1985) and my late husband, Ami Priyono (1939-2001), were all very good friends.
Fari, as we used to call her, studied at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy (1961-1965), while Sjuman studied at the All Union State Institute of Cinematography (1960-1965).
Both Fari and Sjuman graduated cum laude, in fact Sjuman summa cum laude, the first foreigner to do so at the time.
Ami initially went to Moscow to study philology but upon meeting Sjuman, he switched to films. When they all returned to Indonesia, their friendship continued.
After I married Ami in 1974, I became good friends with Fari. So, I was paying a tribute not just to an Indonesian ballet legend but also an old friend.
