Dance, Ceremonialism, and Politic In Indonesia

Abstract

A study of the relationship between dance, ceremomonialism and politics in Indonesia is always interesting. The presence of dance in ceremonialism has a long history in Indonesian political culture. Since the time of the Majapahit kingdom, this has occurred in a pattern of political communication expressed through the appearance of King Hayam Wuruk when he danced in an official meeting in the palace. This fact is revealed from the ancient literature of Negara Kertagama which writes of the greatness of king Hayam Wuruk when he was a dancer in a performance at the palace. This fact seems to be a unique phenomenon in the kingdoms that followed until the Islamic Mataram kingdom was divided into the kingdoms of Surakarta and Yogyakarta eventhough until it increasingly colored colonial politics in the pre-independence era. Entering the post-independence era, the reality of the phenomenon became more explicit when the New Order created the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah monument with the spirit of "wawasan nusantara". Eventually the ceremonial and political patterns are represented in the identity of the various provincial miniatures in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Beautiful Garden of Indonesia Miniatur). This in turn became a new pattern of dance presentation forms in the Presidential Palace, which duplicated various regional dances from various provinces in Indonesia. This article will study this phenomenon with an ethnochoreological approach as a multilayered discipline. Ethnochoreology views dance as a cultural product. From ethnocoreological perspective, this article discusses the relationship pattern of dance presentation in a ceremonalism periodically.