Indonesia

Battery Dance conducted a robust national tour of Indonesia of 18 days November/December, 2022, its first program in the Country since 2011. Each of the major program elements included youth arts educational workshops and performances with an underlying theme of climate change and humans’ relationship with nature.

The New York City-based team of 6 dancer/teaching artists, 1 artistic director/program manager and 1 technical director was supplemented by local Indonesian partner, Mohammad Reiza, who had worked with the dance company in its prior engagement eleven years earlier in Makassar while serving as a Cultural Affairs Assistant with the U.S. Embassy Jakarta.

The overall dimension and details of the project were developed in close cooperation with Reiza and U.S. Embassy Public Affairs staff Pirina Vindiartha and Emily Norris, both of whom had supported Battery Dance’s 2011 Indonesia program, and Grace Clegg, ACAO. This close coordination came into play even as situations changed on the ground and the program was able to be successfully modified to take advantage of opportunities as they arose and to prevent any diminishment of impact when the team faced unforeseen challenges.

The locations chosen for the workshops and performances were spread across the country – Makassar in South Sulawesi; Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan, Borneo; Mataram in Lombok and Serang in Java. Each location had been the epicenter of climate disasters such as Tsunamis, earthquakes, forest fires and mudslides. The concept that creative dance workshops could help young people process trauma and explore feelings and expressions emanating from natural disasters beyond their control is something that Battery Dance had tested through Dancing to Connect workshops held in the New York City Borough of Staten Island, after it was hit hard by Superstorm Sandy in 2014.

Student participation and responses were powerful and inspiring. The overall quality of creativity, innovation, talent and work ethic was extremely high. The dance pieces created by the youth (and in some cases adults) were distinctive and compelling; and emotions overflowed at the end of each program with plenty of hugs and tears of joy and sadness that the engagement was completed.

Two pre-program virtual panel discussions were added to the primary “live” elements of the program to boost awareness of the tour and lay the groundwork for the workshops that would take place soon after. The @america event that took place on the final day of the tour was also shared virtually with an audience reaching 170+ thus far on youtube.com.

In the aftermath of the program, we see many opportunities for continuity: government officials and cultural leaders in Makassar and Mataram have expressed interest in sending their local dance companies to New York for future Battery Dance Festivals. In both cases, invitations to Battery Dance to return to participate in large festivals were also discussed. Whether there is continuing will and funding to propel these ideas is not clear. Palangkaraya has also spoken about future collaboration and asked for guidance in applying for a project supporting the preservation of Dayak culture through the Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation.

Having attempted to build Indonesia into its Asian itineraries for several years, Battery Dance Company was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the U.S. Embassy, designing a program that started with a high-visibility performance and two subsidiary programs in Jakarta, the nation’s capital, and continued with an intensive series of interactions in the provincial capital of Makassar, a maritime city of 1.5 million people. Ramli Ibrahim, the great choreographer and dancer based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, helped BDC establish contact with two of Indonesia’s leading dance entrepreneurs. By connecting these local contacts with the U.S. Embassy, the shape and dimension of BDC’s program was developed in a way that satisfied everyone’s desire to make the most of the Company’s time and talents.

To start things off, BDC had the honor of performing at the Teater Jakarta, Indonesia’s most modernized theater and part of the Jakarta Art and Cultural Center, Taman Ismail Marzuki, with an audience notable for the range of ages from young students to senior citizens. U.S. Ambassador Scott Marciel gave a welcoming speech and introduced Battery Dance to a full house of over a 1,000 people. The Company performed, Autobiographica, a new work choreographed by the five company members, and Layapriya, a revival with Indian and modern Western components. A leading Indonesian newspaper Kompas declared of the performance “It was a presentation of flawless techniques and prime stamina of its dancers, as well as a show of music, multimedia and lighting that were nicely done.”

On the second day in Indonesia, five Battery Dance teaching artists traveled to Makassar, while Jonathan Hollander and Barry Steele remained in Jakarta to conduct seminars on fundraising and lighting/production respectively. The dancers were divided and given different assignments for the week. Two dancers visited government schools each morning and engaged in media interviews during the afternoon. The other three ran Dancing to Connect workshops that lasted for four days, simultaneously training local teachers so they could lead their own DtC workshops in the future.

The program culminated in a final performance held at the Gedung Mulu, a historic Dutch community hall, transformed into a dance theater through the skilled and imaginative exertions of Barry Steele and his local counterpart, Andi Muhammad Redo, executive director of Yayasan Kesenian Batara Gowa. Jonathan led a talk on Fundraising and Arts Management for Rumata, a house for art and cultural interaction that had just been inaugurated in Makassar. Jonathan also addressed the local Ministry of Tourism and Culture on the role the Arts can play in civic development. A follow-up meeting with the Minister provided the opportunity to converse on how best the city of Makassar could support its budding local arts community. Battery Dance’s Indonesia trip, the final leg of BDC’s 2011 Southeast Asia Tour, left the Company hoping for more such opportunities in the future.

See the narrative for Jakarta, Indonesia 2011