Semarang State University held a nonstop dance performance on its campus starting 9 a.m. on Friday and slated to end at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The 24-hour performance was put on in conjunction with the commemoration of World Dance Day.

A total 2,000 dancers from 171 dance groups took part in the performance, hailing from dance studios, elementary to senior high schools and universities, mainly in Central Java and nearby provinces, though one group traveled all the way from Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

“This performance is intended as a means of promoting dance as a medium for education and [cultural] conservation,” event organizing committee head Usrek Tani Utina told the media at the opening of the event on Friday.

The dance participants — ranging from school-age children to adult and elderly dancers — were provided two stages within the university compound on which to perform. One was an open stage at the University’s School of Arts, the other the university’s Cultural Laboratory Hall.

Among the performers were a group from the House for Special Needs Students with Hearing Problems. The disabled pupils performed a mixed ethnic dance performance entitled Nusantara Bersatu or United Archipelago.

The dance involved a medley of traditional dances including bungong jeumpa from Aceh, selayang pandang from central Sumatra, jaranan from Central Java and apuse from Papua.

“Our students routinely practice every Thursday, so it’s no problem for them to perform here. They are ready whenever is needed,” explained Windy Arya Dewi, a trainer with the special needs school group.

The school’s dancers — Eca, Mayka, Caca, Maitsa and Safa — confidently danced to the music of bungong jeumpa, their parents proudly recording the performance on their mobile phone’s video cameras.

Semarang State University School of Dance and Music head Udi Utomo revealed that the participants in
the performance had been allowed to choose whichever kind of dance they wanted.

“They were able to choose and perform any kind of dance — traditional, contemporary, even dances of their own creation. The most importance thing is that this event is all about body movement,” Udi said.

This year’s 24-hour dance performance is a continuation of previous such events held in 2014 and 2015, when the university put on 12-hour and 18-hour performances, respectively.

Udi said the organizers had not found any difficulties in getting performers to participate in this year’s event, as the university, as the host, had announced the event some time beforehand.

“Indeed, people were rushing to register for the event, so much so that we eventually had to reject late-coming participants, as those already registered had taken up all the available slots for the 24-hour dance performance,” he said.

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