Some 7,000 visitors packed the Vastenburg fortress in Surakarta, Central Java, on Friday evening as the 2013 Solo International Performing Arts (SIPA) festival kicked off at the Dutch colonial-era compound.

Held under the theme of 'The Legendary History of World Culture', this year's festival ' the fifth held so far ' is presenting nine domestic and seven foreign performers over three consecutive nights from Friday to Sunday. All are first timers at the event.

'We always try to present something different and new every year,' chairperson of the 2013 SIPA organizing committee, Irawati Kusumorasri, said.

Swedish solo dancer Virpi Pahkinen opened the first evening's performance with a 61-minute contemporary dance, Scarabe (Spider).

'Spiders catch items from the air and then make them into special things,' Pahkinen said about the message she wanted to convey through her dance.

She said that the dance did not actually meet with the theme of the festival but she deliberately chose to perform it because she wanted to share what she had in her mind through the dance.

Dressed in black, Pahkinen caught the audience's attention although many were forced to stand to enjoy the performance as the prepared seating could not accommodate all of the visitors.

'Her movement is so lithe despite her being no longer young,' Marisa, a visitor, said as she enjoyed the performance on Friday.

Following Pahkinen's dance, Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo, Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry's expert overseeing creative work diversity protection, Hari Untoro Dradjat, and lawmaker Aria Bima jointly marked the official opening of the festival.

The opening ceremony was illuminated by fireworks lit by the visitors as a golden dart carrying the festival's mascot Ratu Sima represented by Rachel Georghea Sentani, finalist in this year's Putri Indonesia beauty pageant, arrived at the festival's venue. A three-minute firework display concluded Rachel's performance.

The Ratu Sima character was chosen as the mascot for this year's festival because she was expected to unite different cultures and histories from around the world through the SIPA stage.

Also performing on Friday night were Sanggar Seni Tanadoang from Sulawesi; Noreum Machi of South Korea; Padnecwara from Jakarta; Zhuhai Hansheng Art, China and Nan Jombang of West Sumatra.

On Saturday night the performers were Zhuhai Hansheng Art; the University of Sabah, Malaysia; Sanggar Lungun of Aceh; the Ludens Dance Theatre from Japan; Noreum Machi and Wayang Ajen from West Java.

On Sunday, Sanggar Tatara of Madura, East Java; Kiran Rajagopalan from India; GPH Paundrakarna Sukmaputra Jiwanegara, Surakarta; the North Jakarta Culture Agency and the SIPA community are scheduled to liven up the stage.

The Ludens Dance Theatre presented the 35-minute The Rite of Spring. 'The dance is usually performed by two dancers, male and female. But for SIPA we have seven female dancers performing,' director of Ludens Dance Theatre Takiko Iwabuchi said.

Paundrakarna, the only Surakarta-based performer at the festival, is to present an eight-minute dance, Bidadari-Bidadari Genit (Flirtatious Angels), also performed by seven dancers.

SIPA was first established in 2009 and has since become an annual event in the municipality of Surakarta, or Solo as the city is more popularly known.

The fortress, Irawati said, was chosen because it suited the festival's theme and at the same time it was also meant to remind people of the existence of Vastenburg Fortress, which had witnessed the struggle of Surakartans in their fight for Indonesian independence from Dutch colonial rule.

The Surakarta municipal administration is currently seeking to take over the management of the historic fortress. Ownership of the fortress is in the hands of various parties and individuals including business tycoon Robby Sumampow.

'We really hope that the fortress will be given over to the municipal administration,' FX Hadi Rudyatmo said in his opening remarks to the 2013 SIPA festival.

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