 | herustiawan on Preambule |
 | Jane on Bedaya Ketawang |
 | ben on Bedaya Ketawang |
 | Kamelia "Teta" on Does she believe? |
 | elindasari on Preambule |
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Why are we fighting when we are all together?
How do you know when you have “won” a war?
Listen to you heart and you will know the truth
For it knows the truth
Between us there is a long history
In love there is peace
In peace there is love
Let’s make good for we are brothers
How great is the mercy and blessing of God
Let’s return to peace
Let’s return to love
How merciful God is
God bless and has mercy
[for conflict area]
Yesterday, my friend, Yudhiakto Pramudya, reminded me about a traditional dance. It’s called Bedaya Ketawang that emerged in the early seventeenth century in the Javanese state of Mataram and commemorates the coronation of the king of Surakarta, one of the two Mataram Kingdom divisions. In Java, Indonesia, bedaya are dancers who perform ritual court dances. Bedaya are living embodiments of traditional Javanese high culture, and in addition to dance are expected to be proficient in the Javanese language and literature, as well as able to practice batik and the healing arts.
Bedaya Ketawang Dance
Bedaya Ketawang is one of sacred dance in Central Java. The movements in this Bedaya Ketawang dance are very simple, with few ornaments, and the instrumentation for the accompanying gendhing is not as full as the gamelan used for wayang or shadow puppet theatre. The patterns of dance are simple, the movements sway smoothly, as if following the breathing pattern of the dancers. It seems to contain sequence of body movements which have the goal of controlling fluctuating emotions, so that what appears gives an impression of a continuous flow, calm, without ripples or erratic movements or even explosions.
The dance depicts the relationship between Panembahan Senopati, the first ruler of Mataram, and Kanjeng Ratu Kidul (Her Majesty Queen of The South Sea), the goddess of the sea and protector of the royal family.
The dance is performed by nine bedayas wearing the makeup and dress of brides. The dancers prepare for the dance as they would for a marriage ceremony, and the hour long dance is open only to selected audiences who refrain from smoking, drinking, and eating. Some believe that a tenth dancer is the goddess herself, she also performs and can be seen by some people.
This story is a legend, but the fact that it’s used as a theme in the court dance suggests that it is in the official chronicles of the Babad Kraton Mataram. Things I can get that dancing is an educational process to acquire an ideal personality in the view of Javanese life. An ideal personality is one which is able to control emotions with movement and behaviour patterns, or body language, which in interpersonal relationships always shows self restraint and allows others to take the initiative. A personality which is almost passive and easily ashamed when acting outside the norms. These norms become the basis for reacting to the patterns of dance movements taught. High technical discipline is obligatory, as discipline in the details of movement performed also reflects the discipline in implementation of social order.
Bedaya Ketawang Dance
Note:
Don’t cry just sweep your pain from your eyes
that makes me fall to your heart
Sorry, it’s all I can say to your heart
you’ll always with me
You are my dream
My sweetest dream
Please babe don’t leave me alone
Hold me tight
Close in my arms
I’m with you wherever you are
You’ll always be my happy life
This love will last forever
Trust me I know what you have been through
believe me i’m here for you
Feel me I always be around you
Wherever I go
You are my dream
My sweetest dream
Please babe don’t leave me alone
Hold me tight
Close in my arms
I’m with you wherever you are
You’ll always be my happy life
This love will last forever
(by Air; for Angel)
I believe… When she is not with me there are no stars in the sky.
I believe… The way back to her will feel a little far.
I’ll carry all those memories deep inside me.
I’ll feel pain, it’ll make tears fall.
When I won’t cry she will leave me
With no change and no tears.
Someday again the tears will come around
She knows it
I’ll believe that she is waiting.
I do it for her.
I believe. It’ll hurt me to see, she can’t cry.
I believe. My tears will fall, she should turn back to me again.
Again I’ll glimpse she comes into my sight
And it’ll make my tears fall.
When I won’t cry she will leave me
With no change and no tears.
Someday again the tears will come around
She knows it.
I’ll believe that she is waiting.
I do it for her.
Before I knew her, the world was dazzling.
From that sky I got left with tears.
I will care for that person.
She is the only reason.
To me the wait gives me enough happiness.
Love is the only reason.
As days pass by,
If she forgets the way, I’ll be waiting
I do it for her.
(sebuah lirik, saat tak bisa tidur, Shubuh, 29 Desember 2007, disaat terjadi perbedaan waktu antara aku dan dia)
Every night when I would go to sleep.
I couldn’t stop dreaming about her.
Even though I don’t really know her.
I’m waiting for the moment I can show her about my words.
I was watching her went for several times.
I was watching her passed me by.
It’s real love that she doesn’t know about.
I knew I had to come up and approach her.
Coz I really gotta let her knows.
I got a lot of love I wanna show her.
I need her love.
She’s the one that I want and no one can take.
I’m never gonna let her slips away again.
Every now and then when I watch her.
I wish that I could tell her that I want her
But now.. I just can wait and be patient.
Bandung, 29 Des ’07, jam 01.50, saat dia ada di jauh sana.
I am trying to understand her
I would like to know both
What she should hear
For that much she wants to believe
I am afraid of this silence
And the gap between us
From these statements of absence
Who put me in the knee
I lost my reason
Let me to the abandonment
I look back
I see a tear sinking
I lost my benchmarks
The color of my soul
Tell me where is my life
If she is “far” from here?
This phrase seems strange in English, but this is inspired by Javanese philosophy. In javanese language, it is said “Tansah Eling Lan Waspodo”. This phrase is often said by parents to their children, especially when their child far away from them or maybe when their children will go to somewhere.
Human can’t be separated from society, where inside the society, there are so many good manners, help each other, sacrifice, etc. Together with those, bad manners such as arrogant, greedy, and egoist also colorize the society in harmony. Battle between those manners can be found in our daily life. This is very natural, because all of those manners are our fate as human.
As a part of society, could we give scratching to this painting of life? what is the color we scratch? Is that scratching perfecting the harmony or precisely disturbing the harmony instead destroying the harmony?
Let’s muse the answer not in a rush.
Nowadays, we find so many incident and accident in our social life such as rape, (personal or gangster) bullying, corruption, and other phenomenons. And mostly we say it disturbs the harmony. I don’t ask if you do it, or ask you to be an agent of change. I just want to warn my self to keep remember and wary.
Remember that my family/my friends/my colleague/etc need me. Wary that there are so many temptations that can make me “out of track”.
Remember the answer from the question, “for what I live for?”. Wary that sometimes, people/things don’t like “undeviating person”.
Remember that I must keep patient, calm, and focus. Wary that sometimes, anger, ego, and another negative emotion try to take control over me.
Remember that there are so many people still in suffering. Wary that I can’t be conceit for what I have, I can, etc because there is a sky above a sky.
I think you, my friends, can add another “remember and wary”.
Let’s not yield to temptations.
“sabegjo-begjone wong kang begjo, isih luwih begjo wong kang tansah eling lan waspodo”
(how lucky a lucky person is, it is not luckier than a person who keeps remember and wary)
