Lengger Dance: Studio Presentation & Workshop with Rianto
On June 9th, I attended a captivating dance presentation and workshop with Rianto, an Indonesian artist whose expression transcends and blurs both traditional and modern labels. Hosted by the Global Education Center and organized by OZ Arts, this event was special with how closely we were able to learn from Rianto in a more casual setting. Before attending the class I watched some videos of his posted online to familiarize myself with the motions. Javanese dance is a larger group of traditional and folk dances, including the more specific form Lengger Lanang. Lengger was a main part of our dance workshop. As an old Javanese ritual dance, it uses crossdressing to express the feminine essence.
Back when Lengger was being created men performed because they were viewed as more pure than women. The dance, with proper intention, is a sacred act, communicating with spiritual forces, honoring how the balance of masculine and feminine energies brings about harmony. When doing my research prior to the class I thought about how comfortable the hand motions of Lengger looked. They are very gentle, fluid, and graceful. The graceful motions hold a lot of power. Every gesture is intentional, whether it be focusing on carrying a specific feeling, or storytelling through symbolic means.
While his traditional dance, Lengger Lanang, is centered around feminine energy, he has expanded into the contemporary space. Seeing how he pulls from his traditional background into the modern contemporary space was quite intriguing. You could see how he was making it his own. Through this demonstration more masculine energies were evoked. Instead of the motions looking like they felt “comfortable”, these appeared to be more demanding and power poses, like angular stances instead of frequent fluid motions. It was the directness of the masculine strength vs the feminine whose strength comes from her standoff seductiveness. This departure from tradition, however, often invites critique, as innovation
can unsettle those invested in maintaining established norms. I would say that anything worth commenting on will experience both positive and negative feedback. People are paying attention because there is a story to be told. How his story unfolds through a willingness to step outside of what others deem acceptable makes for an exciting presentation. Maybe we will start to see more of Rianto in modern contemporary space, all with him creating new moves and stories to share with the world.
Near the end of the workshop when we were asking questions, Rianto spoke about how his dances would be seen and experienced in Indonesia. He mentioned how they would have chickens and fruit offerings for the Gods. This confirmed what I was feeling when observing, but even more strongly when participating in the dance. I was able to deeply connect with the feminine energies. They brought me joy to perform even if I was not executing them perfectly. The masculine dances he performed were more demanding of the body and required more intense movements versus the subtly strong feminine. This is from observation only, it was not part of the workshop aspect of the event. I enjoyed the dance part of the workshop just as much as I did hearing about Rianto’s story of how he was chosen to be a Lengger dancer. His family was farmers, so for him to love dance and music so much as a kid, especially as a boy, brought attention to him.
Still, to this day, the attention he receives is both positive and negative. His recent movie in 2018, Memories of My Body, was nominated for a Grammy, and widely celebrated in Europe, all while being heavily criticized in his hometown. It is almost as if he is too modern for the local traditional space, and too “traditional” for the modern contemporary space. He currently lives in Japan with his wife where he has a traditional Javaneese school. From the class, I believe he started his contemporary journey after moving to Japan. With displaying his own perspective through various dance mediums, Rianto’s career will continue to cause waves.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Audrey Rose Conley is a sociology student at MTSU with a passion for exploring the transformative power of dance. Her research delves into how dance can challenge social norms, promote individual empowerment, and foster social change. As a rapper and singer, she uses her artistic voice to express these themes and inspire others to embrace their authentic creativity.
