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span class="inline inline-left">Movement: The “iBody” dance is performed by the Institut Kesenian Jakarta Dance Company at the Indonesian Dance Festival on Sunday at Taman Ismail Marzuki. JP/Jerry AdigunaThe 11th Indonesian Dance Festival (IDF), slated for various sites in Jakarta, offers a stage for various performances, from seasoned dancers to younger talents.

Its pre-events included a mass dance conducted last month at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle involving over 2,000 dancers, a one-week choreography workshop for dancers from various parts of Indonesia, as well a seminar and a dance competition.

The festival’s peak period started on June 1 and runs to June 9, and will feature performances from local as well as international dancers from various countries including Japan, France and Belgium.

The opening night’s highlights included a performance of Surakarta’s “Bedhoyo Dirada Meto”, which was only recently performed again in 2007 after around 100 years, and a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s  “L’Histoire du Soldat”, which tells of a soldier who sold his soul — represented by a violin — to the devil.

The musical work, however, has been reinterpreted by theater maker Gerard Mosterd, as well as dancers Martinus Miroto, Eko Supriyanto and Sri Qadariatin.

Jamaluddin Latif from Yogyakarta’s Teater Garasi narrated the work, which was imbued with Javanese dance elements along with humorous as well as philosophical touches.

Other works scheduled to be performed include Zan Yamashita’s “The Sailors”, Hafiz Dhaou’s “Kawa” and Adrien M/Claire B’s “Cinematique”, which combines dance, digital art and juggling. The schedule also includes movie screenings.

The program “Seeds of Wonder”, usually held earlier in the afternoon, features selected beginning talent from Indonesia — including “Aku Papua” by Darlane Litaay — as well as other countries.

According to Maria Darmaningsih, the director of IDF 2012, the event is designed as a platform to introduce works of art to the public, as well as a meeting point for artists from various disciplines.

“This year, IDF introduces ‘Outreaching the Possibilities’ as the theme. It is to reemphasize the magnitude of opportunities that can be explored and developed through dance,” she said in her welcoming note.

IDF 2012 spokesperson Andara Firman Moeis said that the outreach effort aims at increasing the younger generation’s familiarity with the festival.

“Nowadays, dancing can be considered an increasing trend, especially hip-hop dance among the young people… we want to introduce various genres of dance, including contemporary dances,” she said during a press conference for the festival in April.

This is the first time that the festival, since it first started in 1992, includes a dance competition

Andara said that the competition is open to various genres, including hip-hop styles.

Winners of the dance competition were “Sang Penunggu” by Galih Safitri from the WaJiWa dance theater group in Bandung, “1 = Satu” by Suci Priwasa, also from WaJiWa, and “Kama” from Gusti Putu Agus Yustika.

Performers from “Sang Penunggu” and “1=Satu” then became participants in the seven-day choreography workshop to receive mentoring.

According to Galih, “Sang Penunggu”, which involves the use of a rocking chair and movements imitating that of old people, tells of the feeling of the elderly who constantly wait for their relatives to visit.

Meanwhile, “1=Satu” tells of a conflict between a mother and her daughter who chooses to dress in a masculine fashion, Suci said.

The schedule and further information about the festival is available at http://www.indonesiandancefestival.org/.

— JP/Dina Indrasafitri