That Sunday morning, 13 people sat on the floor of a South Jakarta home. Aged between 20 and 40, they were practicing the popular Acehnese saman dance.

The dancers came from various backgrounds, from students and singers to masseurs and bank customer service officers. They are not ordinary dancers — they are visually impaired.

But that morning, they synchronized their movements, tapping their left and right shoulders with their hands before they finally had to push their bodies upwards to stand on their knees.

Laughter broke out among the group when some of them found it too difficult to propel their bodies upwards.

“You all must have had eaten too much lumpia [spring rolls] during the snack break,” one of them, 32-year-old masseur Sriyani Asmalasari, shouted good-naturedly to those who failed to push their bodies upward while smiling widely, causing the group to laugh again before one of the instructors, Putri Sari Suci, reminded them to resume practicing.

While group members who had memorized the movements practiced independently, Putri helped a new member who had not yet memorized the sequences.

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She helped the dancer by putting his hands into motion and moving them to tap his left and right shoulders, thereby informing him of the movement sequences.

The group is the Pelita Monas Foundation, consisting of 14 visually impaired individuals — three have low vision while the rest are totally blind — who are empowered through dance and music activities. One did not show up that morning.

They were busy rehearsing for a May 25 fund-raising event to be held at Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta to help them attend the International Dance and Song Festival from Sept. 21 to 25 in Italy.

Another volunteer trainer, Andini S. Natasari, said the dancers were very quick to memorize the dance sequences. Although they cannot see, she said their other senses, such as their auditory and tactile functions, were very sharp.

“We train them to perform the saman dance by giving auditory cues through sounds, beats and rhythms,” Putri said.

The Pelita Monas Foundation was established in February this year by Dadang I. Hasan. It conducts regular saman practice sessions, which are occasionally accompanied by angklung bamboo musical instruments on Sundays and holidays at the house of Bustanil Arifin, the late former cooperatives minister under the New Order regime.

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The participants are very enthusiastic about joining the practice sessions, although some of them live in far-flung places like Bekasi, West Java.

Bekasi resident Mutiara spends around three hours to commute to reach the home where the practice sessions are held. But it does not stop her from going as she enjoys the sessions.

“I have an interest in the arts and the saman dance appears unique. The trainers are very patient and because of that, we never hesitate to ask them for help,” the 33-year-old said on the sidelines of the practice session.

For Mutiara and her peers, the group also serves as a place where they can find new friends and pour their hearts out about their day-to-day problems.

The discussions, however, do not always have to be serious. “Some members sometimes poke fun at one another, even jokingly mocking one another,” said another member, Megawati.

Student Nursa Wahyu said by joining the activity he wanted to show that the visually impaired were also skilled in dancing. “Most visually impaired individuals are known to be skilled in music or massage. Every time I meet somebody, he or she will say that I must have musical talents, just because I’m a visually impaired person.”

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