When one thinks of a dangdut performance, the scenes that will likely come up include the sound of electone and drums pounding, flirtatious vocals with a Malay twist, body contortions, and the audience - the majority of men - swaying with the atmosphere.
The body is an endless recorder. Puri Senja goes on a journey within herself, unraveling the piles of memories, traumas, and parts of life shaped her in her long-term work, “The Other Half”. This work is both personal and political.
Co-curator IDF 2022
Co-curator IDF 2022
The spectres of choreography in the context of this archive exhibition has nothing to do with the astral concept where psychic phenomena take place. The spectres here, in contrast, is closely related to the history of materialism concept, where various cultural and artistic dance practices are formed. This exhibition archive is put together to mark and get to know the spectres of choreography that shadowed our past dance practices, ones that we inherit today.
Linda Mayasari is the Director of Cemeti - Institute for Art and Society, where she has worked since 2010. She also serves as a member of the curatorial team of Indonesian Dance Festival (IDF). She is currently completing her Masters in Cultural Studies at Universitas Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta while working on personal research and writing projects, exploring the intersection of art, politics and post colonialism in the context of Indonesian culture and history.
Performance Coordinator in IDF 2022
Finance Manager
Marketing Manager
Festival Manager
Director of IDF
Dance has always been a part of Ratri Anindyajati, a cultural producer and dance enthusiast. She encountered many artistic expressions - from dance, literature, to visual - from a very early age. Many of her family members are involved in the arts, be it as artists, reviewers, and educators. Her proximity with arts shape her vision to be an ambassador for Indonesian culture in the international stage.
IDF co-founders
IDF co-founders
IDF co-founder
Born in Payakumbuh, West Sumatra on October 13, 1990, Heru Joni Putra studied and graduated in English Literature FIB Andalas University and Cultural Studies FIB Universitas Indonesia. His first book entitled "Badrul Mustafa" (2017) was awarded the Best Poetry Book version of TEMPO Magazine 2018 and the 2019 Wisran Hadi Award.
Sankar Venkateswaran is a theater director who studied directing at School of Drama and Fine Arts, University of Calicut, after which he trained at Theater Training and Research Programme, Singapore. In 2007, he founded Theater Roots & Wings. In 2013 he received the Ibsen Scholarship from Teater Ibsen, Norway, for “Tribal Ibsen Project” which furthered his work with the indigenous people in the mountain valley of Attapadi, Kerala.
Mandeep Raikhy is a dance practitioner based in New Delhi. He trained at Trinity Laban and worked with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, London, for several years. Mandeep has created and toured extensively for many of his dance works, notably “Inhabited Geometry” (2010), “a male ant has straight antennae” (2013) and “Queen Size” (2016).
Together with Isa Köhler, Katharina Kucher took over as the co-director of Internationale Tanzmesse NRW in 2021. Until then she acted as head of project and contract management at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin. Before that, she worked as a freelance researcher for the Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft e. V. and wrote several studies on cultural development and cultural funding.
Arsita Iswardhani is an actor, performance-maker, dramaturg, and a collective member of Teater Garasi / Garasi Performance Institute, based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She explores methods of performance-making through various intercultural and interdisciplinary approaches, studying martial arts, Javanese dance, the Suzuki Method, and corporeal ethnography as a means of performance.
A dance artist whose artistic practice revolves around critical reading of “what is the body” and “what is space” as well as the dialogue between these two ideas and how they shape reality. Since 2018, he has worked as a collaborator in two works by German choreographer Isabelle Schad, both of which were staged at Tanzplattform Deutschland 2020.
Originally from California, Jeannie moved to Yogyakarta in 1996. She is a Javanese dance practitioner and was the first non-Javanese to be accepted at Yogyakarta’s Royal Court as a dancer. Currently she served as the executive director of the non-profit organization and cultural landmark Padepokan Seni Bagong Kussudiardja (PSBK) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Yudi is known as an experimental director who pushes Indonesia’s theater aesthetics to the next level, and has presented his works in international forums across Asia, Europe, America, and Australia. He is also one of the founders of Teater Garasi - an interdisciplinary artist collective in Yogyakarta.
Sari entered the world of drama at a very young age and was actively participating in Kak Yana's drama group. Since 1978 until now, she has been involved in the Teater Koma group as an actress, stage manager, production manager, and director.
Farah Wardani is an art historian and curator who currently serves as the Director of Jakarta Biennale 2021, and Visual Arts Committee member of the Jakarta Arts Council. Previously, Farah served as the executive director of Indonesian Visual Art Archive (IVAA) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, with works including the IVAA Digital Archive, the first digital archive of contemporary art in the country.
Ayu Utami is an award-winning Indonesian writer who was the 2000 Prince Claus Award Laureate. During Indonesia's military regime, Ayu was a journalist and press freedom activist. She was one of the founders of The Alliance of Independent Journalists which was later banned by the military regime. Her first novel Saman (1998), published just a few days before Soeharto stepped down, was highly acclaimed by literary critics and became a bestseller as well as an icon of the spirit of freedom during the political change (Reformasi) in Indonesia.
Kennya Rinonce is a storyteller who uses theater, dance, and live-events as her creative medium (Drupadi ID—2018). She has been involved with the Ministry of Education and Culture through an art residency in New Zealand (Cultural Activist) along with the Indonesian Creative Economy Agency by helping develop a dance community program in Wakatobi, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Yacobus Ari R (l. 1991, tinggal dan bekerja di Bandung) adalah pengajar seni dan kurator. Ia tergabung dalam staf ajar Integrated Arts - Fakultas Filsafat Universitas Parahyangan, dengan sejak sebelumnya telah menguratori, menulis, dan meneliti untuk berbagai presentasi pameran dan proyek seni.
Siko Setyanto - a dancer and choreographer - started studying from the age of nine with Wied Sendjayani at Sanggar Maniratari, Solo. Founder of the Risk Dance Group and the Dansity Dance Company, Siko is also serving a term as a member of the Dance Committee of the Jakarta Arts Council (DKJ) from 2020 to 2023.
Mila Rosinta Totoatmojo was born in Jakarta, May 15, 1989 and was seven when she encountered dance. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Creation at the postgraduate of the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Yogyakarta. Having studied Balinese dance, Mila switched to Javanese dances and culture after joining Tembi Dance Company in 2009.
Ajeng Soelaeman was born on March 6, 1984 in Jakarta and grew up with an education in Ballet Advanced Royal Academy of Dance and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Dance at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ). She became the main dancer in the Jeckos Dance created by Jecko Siompo and in Hartati, a work from the Swarnadwipa Dance Company.
Arco Renz is a choreographer, stage director, dance artist, dramaturg, teacher and performing arts curator. He studied dance and theater in his hometown of Bremen, Germany, in Berlin and Paris, before joining the first generation of P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios) in Brussels.
Initiated by the late Chairul Rahman, this collective processes works of art through a media known as mapping projection. Today, Flipside AV consists of Kukuh Gandhia Poetra, Tri Oktoviano, and Afanpaper. Their works take shape as performances with three elements - visual arts, performing arts, and film arts - within them.
Japanese-born Mio Ishida is an actor and dancer based in Tokyo. She graduated from the theater and dance program at JF Oberlin University College of Performing and Visual Arts. During university years, she learned about contemporary dance, classical ballet, and contemporary colloquial (theater works using conversational language).
Leu Wijee, an artist/choreographer and dancer, was born in 1998 in Sulawesi, Indonesia and is currently based in Palu and Jakarta. Starting his career with (self-taught) street dance, he was trained in traditional Indonesian dance and other contemporary forms during Animal Pop Dance under direction of Jecko Siompo (2014-2019). His exploration process focuses on how the act of creating choreography is inspired and influenced by nature, dance, and humans itself.
Kornkarn Rungsawang is a Thai classical and contemporary dancer. Based in Bangkok, she graduated from Burapha University with a Bachelor in Music and Performing Arts in 2010. Since then, she has been working with Pichet Klunchun Dance Company. As a dance artist, she aims to bridge the gap between tradition and contemporary dance. In 2017, she participated in an art residency program in New York on an individual Fellowship Grant from the Asian Cultural Council. She also took part in the International Choreographers Residency Program at the American Dance Festival.
Jared Jonathan Luna is a dance artist and aspiring memelord from Manila, Philippines. They have a masters degree in Dance Anthropology and Ethnochoreology from Choreomundus: International Master in Dance Knowledge Practice and Heritage. Jared is interested in vernacular movement systems in urban spaces.
Prior to being a contemporary dance choreographer, Eka Wahyuni started her career as a traditional East Kalimantan dancer, based in Yogyakarta. The idea of archives and memories within the body, myths, and social phenomenon are her main interests in creating works. Since 2016, she has been working on a long-term project “Pesona Tari Gong” (“The Enchantment of Tari Gong”), along with other works revolving around dance-body records such as “Rekalindung” (2021) and “Dancing the Monument” (2022).
The eldest of four siblings, M. Safrizal is a choreographer born in Aceh on August 22, 1996. He began his dance debut in junior high school and later on started his dance education at the Indonesian Cultural Arts Institute (ISBI) in Aceh. Before being known as a choreographer, DekJall - Safrizal’s nickname - worked as a traditional musician. One of his latest works “Frekuensi Rasa”, which talks about violence trauma and its lasting effects on the body, was shown at the 2019 Contemporary Dance Market (PASTAKOM) in Pekanbaru, Riau.
Besides being a choreographer, Sherli Novalinda is also a dance lecturer at the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) Padangpanjang. As an artist-scholar), she has been actively creating works since 2003. She is interested in conducting research and experiment on the creation of contemporary dances, both traditional and non-traditional, and has various experiences of interdisciplinary collaboration with local and international artists.
Pichet Klunchun bridges traditional Thai Classical Dance language with contemporary sensibility, while keeping the heart and wisdom of the convention. He trained in Thai Classical Mask Dance, Khon, from age 16 with Master Chaiyot Khummanee. Over the past 15 years, Pichet has earned domestic notoriety for his efforts in contemporising Khon.
Mella Jaarsma is known for her complex costume installations and her focus on forms of cultural and racial diversity embedded within clothing, the body and food. She was born in the Netherlands in 1960 and studied visual art at Minerva Academy in Groningen (1978-1984), after which she left the Netherlands to Indonesia to study at Jakarta Institute of Arts (IKJ, 1984) and at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) in Yogyakarta (1985-1986). In 1988, she co-founded Cemeti Art House (with Nindityo Adipurnomo), the first space for contemporary art in Indonesia.
Moh. Hariyanto (b.1986), also known as Hari Ghulur, is a choreographer and dancer based in Surabaya. His works “Ghulur”, “Ghabal”, “White Stone”, ”Sila”, and “Jap_Vanese”, have been presented in T.H.E Contact Contemporary Dance, Europalia Art Festival, University of Malaya, American Dance Festival, and Indonesian Dance Festival.
This cross-disciplinary collective of artists consistently works on projects that break down boundaries between art and other fields. Gymnastics Emporium’s works often play with performance aspects in the sports category, for example in the bodily and spectacle details.
Ferry Alberto Lesar, a dancer and choreographer, was born in Manado, 13 February 1993. As an alumni of the Department of Dance, Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ), he studied various dance genres such as break dance, traditional, modern, even hip-hop which later influenced his choreography style. He has collaborated with a number of notable choreographers from Indonesia and overseas, including Hartati, Eko Supriyanto, Tom Ibnur, Yola Yulfanti, Peter Wilson, Kapronczai Erika, and Arno Schuitmaker.
Angela Goh is an artist who works with dance and choreography. Her work is presented in contemporary art contexts and traditional performance spaces. Most recently her work has been performed at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Sydney Opera House, and a range of venues in Australia, Asia, Europe and North America including Performance Space New York, Auto Italia, Baltic Circle, Shedhalle and Taipei Performing Arts Center.
Endure (The Youth United Will Endure) is a Timor Leste-based dance academy founded in 2010 by eight teenagers involved in the local hip hop scene. They also share an interest in exploring hip hop-related elements, including graffiti, rap, beatboxing, and DJ.
Gita Kinanthi is a dance artist and educator. She did her postgraduate study in PPS ISI Yogyakarta (2012), and since 2015 has stayed in South Kalimantan and worked as a lecturer in the Dance Education major of STKIP PGRI Banjarmasin. She focuses to explore dance and dance education through collaborative work, research, and experiment.
Zhibek Birikova, better known as Jibek, is a 30-year-old choreographer, director, performer, and intuitive musician who has developed her career since 2009. She plays shaman tambourines, djembe, glucophone, harmonica, kalimba, Jew’s harp, and is actively involved in spiritual practices.
Mukhlis (Madre) is a dance artist from Pandeglang, Banten, Indonesia with a big vision to develop Indonesia’s art and culture within and outside the country. The graduate of ISI Yogyakarta (2021) explores traditional, modern, and contemporary dance.
nu Kolektif is an art collective based in Atambua, Belu, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia consisting of members with diverse backgrounds. Each member has their own characteristics in working using different mediums, including visuals (photography, videography, illustration, and visual communication design) and literature.
Pebri Irawan is a choreographer and postgraduate student at ISI Yogyakarta. He began to pursue dance after enrolling in dance major at ISI Yogyakarta.
Pratama Reski Wijaya, nicknamed Kiki, is an alumnus of the Department of Dance Education at an institute in Banjarmasin. He currently lives in Curup, Rejang Lebong Regency, Bengkulu, Indonesia and works as a performer, choreographer, actor, and cameraman at Teater Senyawa.
Ren Xin Lee is interested in what the body embodies and how it can co-create with time. She worked with ritual and repetition in public space.
Theodora Melsasail is a female dancer from Tanimbar Islands, Maluku, Indonesia who studied dance autodidactically. Theo decided to pass on her dance works as a way to educate the locals in Maluku, especially children, through her community Theo Dance Family.
Tri Putra Mahardhika H (Dhika) was born in Jambi in 1988. He has been involved in dance since 2008, when he joined Langkan Budaya Taratak art community. Dhika studied dance at ISI Padangpanjang (2011).
Tyoba Armey, or better known as Tyobabond, was born in Blora Regency, Central Java, Indonesia in 1995. He studied at SMKN 10 Bandung (SMKI), continued with an undergraduate program at ISI Surakarta, and a postgraduate program at ISBI Bandung. Tyobabond is currently working as a lecturer at the Dance Department of ISBI Bandung and Integrated Art Study Program at the Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung.
Usman Najrid Maulana is a dance artist who was born on 14 December 1983 in Tarakan, North Kalimantan, Indonesia. Usman continued his education in the dance department of ISI (2004-13). He pursued a career as a professional dancer and opened a studio named Pagun Tengara ART in his hometown Tarakan.
Retno Sulistyorini began learning dance at the age of 15 at the Indonesian Karawitan High School (SMKI) Surakarta, and continued to study dance at the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI) Surakarta. As a dance artist, Retno was awarded the Empowering Women Artist by the Kelola Foundation (2010-2011). Apart from creating her own works, she also actively collaborates with other choreographers, directors and artists.
Fitri Setyaningsih graduated from the Dance program at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Surakarta in 2003. She first became acquainted with Javanese traditional dance because she grew up in a dance environment. Her interest in the dance world continues to grow along with her critical vision in investigating the body in contemporary dance and since the year 2000 she has continued to develop various eclectic works that explore the intersection between everyday objects, motion, sound, visual and performing arts.
Otniel Tasman, a choreographer deeply rooted in Javanese traditions, especially Banyumas, his hometown. He explores the Banyumas Lengger Tradition as his mother tongue, which gives him the experiences to understand life and inspires him to create dance works that explore gender identity.
Abib Habibi Igal, a choreographer from Central Kalimantan, completed his undergraduate education at the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI) Yogyakarta with a major in Dance Choreography. Since 2012 he has continued to conduct research expeditions on Wadian Dadas, a healing ritual of the Dayak Ma'anyan tribal community in Central Kalimantan.
Maharani Pane is a dancer and choreographer from Jakarta, Indonesia. She graduated from the Jakarta Arts Institute, (IKJ) Faculty of Performing Arts, majoring in Dance. Her artistic practice is oriented on combining elements from various art and media disciplines such as theater, installation art, and visual mapping.
Minori Sumiyoshiyama is a Japanese artist, dancer, actor and researcher. Her works focus on the relationship between space and body. She also creates relationships with audiences with tools of her own making, such as dancing with balloons which include the breath of audiences, or playing a Japanese traditional card game together with the audiences.
Pythos Harris was born in Papua on July 27, 1988. Since childhood he has danced various traditional Papuan dances and social dances such as Yosim Pancar, and participated in soccer in Papua. After participating in many dance competitions in Papua, in 2009 Pythos migrated and ventured to take part in international dance competitions.
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