TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As many as 11 dancers from Gigi Dance Company dance group brought the story of folklore from Bali, “Jayaprana and Layonsari” through a contemporary dance in Jakarta.
Artistic Director of Gigi Dance Company, Gianti Giadi, said the love story between Jayaprana and Layonsari is very famous in Bali. The story is similiar to European’s Romeo and Juliet.
“We present contemporary dance and ballet. Traditional dances such as agem, sedelet and nyawir are also included in it,”Gianti told Antara News after the performance.
“If usually folklores are only told through books, here, we try to tell it through a dance, which combines traditional and modern dances,” Gianti said.
In the show with a 30 minute duration, it narrates a servant from Kalianget Kingdom who is known for it’s cleverness, agile and good-looking, name Jayaprana.
It is Jayaprana’s talent that makes the King considered him like his own child. When seeing that Jayaprana is old enough, the King commanded his servant to search for a wife.
Jayaprana agreed to the command then off to search for a wife. Finally in a market, he met with Layonsari. Because of Layonsari’s beauty, Jayaprana quickly fell in love.
He finally proposed to her. Layonsari was also attracted to Jayaprana’s courage and cleverness and accepted his proposal. Jayaprana then brought Layonsari to meet with the King to ask for his blessing.
Unfortunately, the King is also amazed by Layonsari’s beauty. He was blinded by her beauty and wanted Layonsari at whatever cost. In order not to arouse suspicion, the King sent Governor Saunggaling to end Jayaprana’s life in a mission.
After Jayaprana’s death, Layonsari is proposed by the King. Due to the strong love for Jayaprana, Layonsari chooses to die with Jayaprana by sticking a keris (a traditional blade) in in her own chest. “The wife choses to die than to live without meaning,” that is the end of the story.
“Through this performance, we expect the community to be closer with folklores that exist in Indonesia,” Gianti said. Jayaprana and Layonsari is a story of tragedy between two people in love, human ego and a wife’s loyalty towards her husband.
ANTARA | RUSLAN BURHANI
