A

stylish medley of traditional Javanese children’s songs presented by Sruti Respati and her band wowed the masses packed into the square in front of the Mangkunegaran Palace in Solo.

Sruti was singing “Cublak-cublak Suweng” and “Jamuran” to conclude the Solo International Performing Arts (SIPA) festival on July 3.

Opened by Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari on July 1, the biennial SIPA festival this year had the theme “The Glorious Mask”.

“The mask is part of the performing arts on five continents. It indicates that the mask is universal, whatever its form may be. As in previous years, this year we are dealing with diversity,” chief organizer Ray Ira Kusumorasri said.

The event featured 16 delegations, including those from Holland, Romania, Mexico, Malaysia and India. The plan to make SIPA a five-continent festival was not realized this time due to Australia and Africa’s absence.

The glorious mask dance by the Semarak Candra Kirana dance troupe opened the festival, accompanying the appearance of SIPA 2011 mascot GPH Paundrakarna, the son of Mangkunegara IX and Sukmawati. The arena lights dimmed as he arrived on stage, followed by a display of fireworks.

Famed Yogyakarta choreographer Didik Nini Towok created an exhilarating atmosphere on the first day. Performing a fragment from a Panji (East Java Prince) story, Didik brought along a mirror-shaped projection screen that “reflected” his figure in video form. Didik’s humorous dance and his funny “mirror images” garnered waves of laughter from the audience.

The expressions of Didik’s doppelganger, poking fun at him, annoyed the real Didik. In one dialogue, Didik asked the mirror whether he (playing the role of Dewi) was the right match for Raden Panji the Prince and the mirror showed a monkey. Losing his temper, Didik pretended to throw a grenade at the mirror then found that the mock Didik and the monkey were gone, again to the audience’s delight.

In this story, Didik used three masks to portray three characters: Dewi Sarak Jodag (captivated by Raden Panji Asmara Bangun), Dewi Chandrakirana (Raden Panji’s consort) and a frightening, grinning figure with long, messy hair. The last mask emerged as Raden Panji and rejected Dewi’s love.

Hahoe Mask, a dance drama from Korea followed. Entitled Hahoe Pylhosin-Gut T’al-nori, the composition combined ritual, folklore and folk dance popular in Korea since the middle of the 12th century. In Korea, the masked dance is usually performed in bumper harvest rituals.

From Jakarta, the Daya Presta dance group presented Kedok Ekspresi, expressing the perceived typical traits of women: tenderness, liveliness and vigor. Teater Sape and Sanggar Borneo Tarigas from Kalimantan appeared last with the ritual masked dance Hudoq Kayaan Mendalam Kapuas Hulu. America’s ballet and contemporary dance collaboration was interesting, but its lighting support was disappointing.

King Nature, a dance by Rhonnarong Khampa from Thailand, created a magical atmosphere. The dancer, who had lived in Solo for two years to learn Javanese dance, collaborated with Indonesian choreographer Riyanto and used Thai traditional music.

India, represented by the Jawaharlal Nehru India Culture Center (JNICC), had a turn with an episode of the Mahabharata, but this time the show had something novel, notably the dance costumes in the form of broad skirts.

I Nyoman Sura from Bali also adopted a Hindu epic, the Ramayana, as the theme of his dance, The Lost. Standing bare-chested in the middle of the stage, Nyoman Sura was draped in long white cloth and two people pulled the fabric, extending it over the stage.

“The Lost is a story of loss. It’s not only material loss but also that of soul, morality and repute. We’re often more concerned about the loss of money and goods rather than our good name,” Nyoman Sura said after the show.

On the third day, Dutch choreographer Leine Roebana from Amsterdam stunned the audience. Holland and Mexico performed their dances and music, while the University of Malaysia, Sabah, offered a dance called Tuping and the Manunggaling group from Cirebon presented masked composition Rampak Topeng Kelana Gandrung.

Although in some performances the dancers only used their masks as complements or as a means of fitting the theme instead of imbuing them with soul, in terms of attendance and public enthusiasm, this year’s SIPA was successful, with over 30,000 people filling the Mangkunegaran Palace for three days.

“It’s terrific, beating even a rock show,” GPH Paundrakarna said.