DANCING JOY MOVIE, a tribute to Humanity - feat PEKALONGAN MENARI -

javvachicPekalongan Menari, a local traditional dance group representing Indonesia participated along with other 21 countries for a contribution to the World's Peace mission through dancing. How was it possible? Well here's our story... 

January 2018 : a dance challenge was offered by Isman Habibillah from Global Peace Foundation, a film maker enthusiast. I did not take long to say yes as the idea seems to be a wonderful project to promote culture & tourism. Then I made some research, and together with my partner Ms Arofah Arie from Surya Budhaya we discussed some ideas with our choreographers Cahya & Arief, a dancer architect. So we began to  select dancers and finally a team including 11 performers was formed to render a traditional dance adapted from the coastal area and based on the urban legend intitled "Tari Sintren", beautify with modifications. The original Sintren art is a kind of believe it or not performance to see from your own eyes; known as a dance with mystical/magical touch that originates from the forbidden love story of Sulasih and Sulandono that has become an urban legend. You may. check on youtube for further reference, very interesting to watch.

So we started with ambitions and hope, dreams and strong will as we had no proper funding and we did not even had a place for our routines. All of us were from different dance group and here we are united and volunteering for a cause and for the love of dancing. All for one! We practised under the stars, sun and rain, on the beach, in public spaces, in the Town's Square, wherever possible. In between it was such a blessing that a great local music performers agreed to help us for the musical arrangement, it was unbelievable! Can't thank enough the folklore group Suma Budaya for their  valuable time. Suma Budaya are versatile local performers/musicians who deserve to go international for their talent and uniqueness. The lead singer magical voice and the genius arrangement by the group leader Imam, were a great contribution.

February 2018 : on a rainy Saturday Isman & his team came to town to shoot our audition. We were blessed as we easily had permission at no charge to use International Batik Centre (IBC) joglo (traditional javanese building). We did what we love best, dancing, with a hot small furnace on our left hand giving smoke effect, and Isman CS patiently & cautiously directed and filmed us. Suma Budaya was all gear with their heavy musical instruments.  Before that a tricky thing was to load the dancer bamboo "cage" onto the van. Nicely drapped for the dance with jasmine flowers. 
The result came as a surprise to us because two weeks later we received an email stating that PEKALONGAN MENARI was elected as one of the team performing in Dancing Joy Movie, among 14 countries. Here we are representing Indonesia! 




Please enjoy the clip of Tari Sintren in our Youtube channel, and do not forget to like comment and suscribe:

https://youtu.be/YOXXPhT3Bag





From that audition onwards, all 14 countries selected had to create a new choreography of their traditional dance based on Beethoven's 19th symphony Ode To Joy. Such a challenge to go out of the box as it had never been done before. A javanese dance with a classical Beethoven. Isn't it a wonderful idea? Seems to rythm with our national motto "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" inscribed in the Nation's symbol Garuda Pancasila, meaning Unity in Diversity. Exactly the mission of Dancing Joy Movie: a documentary film that unites people from different nations, different culture to dance together as a tribute to humanity and peace to the world

June 2018 : Finally after months and months of efforts and digital communication, comes the moment we've been waiting for. 21-23 June 2018 marked an epic moment for us #PekalonganMenari. Kate Tsubata (Dancing Joy Producer) & team were scheduled to arrive in Indonesia. Well who would have thought... Pekalongan is a tranquil coastal city in Central Java, known as Batik City (acknowledged by Unesco in 2009) with a population of 308.000 people. It was such an honor for us because for Ms Kate Tsubata and the team it is their first visit to Indonesia, and they accepted to come straight to Pekalongan! 



Supports began to flow. Meetings and meetings were held with various stakeholders and partners in order to give our best. The Government of Pekalongan and the regency of Pekalongan showed interest and gave us full attention. The shooting locations were selected at the iconic Museum Batik of Pekalongan and at the Residence of The Regent of Pekalongan in Kajen, so hopefully we could show each beauty of the regions and throw local hospitality. 
As first impression counts, of course The Sidji Hotel would be the perfect choice as venue and accomodation being a heritage boutique hotel. Besides its strategic location near to our shooting, the atmosphere would blend in harmony to highlight our very fist live performance in front of our principal Kate Tsubata & team.

Day 1

On their arrival, a Press Conference was held at the historical Sidji Hotel . The management threw a nice arrangement and there was a friendly warm atmosphere as guests who turned out that day shown great support to us. The government, Pekalongan Bureau of Tourism Culture & Youth, BP2KP, Pekalongan Board of Art & Culture, Museum Batik, GMs from Indonesia Hotel & Restaurant Associations  in Pekalongan (PHRI), Pekalongan Creative City Forum (PCCF), the Bloggers Community (KBP) and friends along with the media (television, radio, press) mingle in this beautiful day to witness the event. Our beautiful batik sarong and batik souvenirs were from the generous sponsorship of Sarung Batik Kalongguh, whose owners, Bapak Eko & Bapak Supriadi are great culture enthusiast. And of course our humorous partners T4 Tour & Organiser Mas Wahyu & Mas Abdurrachman gave considerable assistance and made the entire experience memorable.
We owe deep gratitude to the management of The Sidji Hotel especially Pak Ardi, Pak Yohanna, Khanza and all team who made fantastic effort . I had so much in my mind, so much to do lately that I didn't had time to think of the kind of set up for this special occasion. Everything was set on point remarkably. Thumbs up for The Sidji Hotel! What a nice arrangement it was, I was really touched and surprised.

So that was the first time we performed live, and the ambiance just gone magical. Suma Budaya  our musical wizard made an enchanting intro. The Presscon went on well and the dance was much appreciated. After the event we spent time with the Director Lan Tsubata briefing us on the shooting the next day. She had eyes for details and praised us for our graceful hand movements while imitating some gestures, and we discussed a bit on the dance formation and technical aspect to look good on the camera. 
 



Day 2

1st day of shooting was spent at the iconic Museum Batik. Bapak Bambang Saptono, the Director was present and we had some conversation. To me, Museum Batik plays an important role in portraying what is Pekalongan therefore this historical building needs to be on frame. 
Henrik A. Mayer the Film Director and Yousuke Kiname captured the beauty of the dance with their camera and drone from all best angles. Henrik even said that the garden spot at Museum Batik was one of his favorite shoot location. We slightly altered our dance formations to match with the surrounding, thanks to their detailed attention and experience. During the day many people, friends and colleagues came to Museum Batik giving us support, which was such a lovely surprise as I never threw any invitations... Even early in the morning during the preparation, the late Pak Denny from Hotel Indonesia Pekalongan dropped by to say hi on his bike. 
That what makes Pekalongan a city to be remembered, its richness in Batik domain, its special culinary, its heritage treasure, those warm and friendly faces all adding to the charm of this coastal city.


Day 3

2nd day of shooting. We headed to the Regency of Pekalongan, Kajen, so as to show the splendid nature of the region. After filming, a welcome dinner was held by the Regent of Pekalongan, Bapak Asip Kholbihi. Ibu Munafah Asip Kholbihi, Batik Ambassador previously demonstrated on how to wear "kain batik" or batik cloth as she was wearing elegantly the Indonesian national costume "Kebaya and Kain". Scenes taken, later we even did some boomerang together with Ibu Munafah Asip which was fun! What a warm hospitality from Kajen it was after few days of hard work. I really hope one day Ms Kate Tsubata and team could come back again for more tourism side, as there is so much to discover in Pekalongan and Regency of Pekalongan.

August 2020 : By the time I'm writing this, Isman Habibilah, our Project Liaison Coordinator had just published #PekalonganMenari interview and we had received a great news: August 25th Dancing Joy Movie received its 1st award and more and more kept on coming. 

October 2020 : Choosen a special day, October 2nd on Batik National Day to watch Dancing Joy Movie after given a special pass by Sarah Tsubata. A private screening with partners is to be scheduled at Berkomunikasi Coffee & Tea, a creative hub joint. It will be then a get together with all crew and some partners.

                                        


Fact Sheet on Dancing Joy Movie:

🎬 Fam Wave Production :

Executive Producer               Kazuo Tsubata   
Producer                                 Kate Tsubata
Director                                   Lan Tsubata Lee
Film Director                          Henrik A. Mayer
Camera Operator                  Yousuke Kiname
Press/Human Relations      Sarah Tsubata

🎬 Countries participating :

Fiji Japan India Korea Spain Africa (Rwanda, Botswana) Indonesia USA  Nepal Bulgaria    Scotland  Honduras  Hawaii  Ireland  Greece 
        
🎬 Pekalongan Menari Officials & Dancers :
Isman Habibilah, Jacintha Chandrasari, Arofah Arie, Cahya, Arief Rahman Hakim, Iman 
Dancers:
Arief, Cahya, Selly, Dewi, Iftidah, Afa, Aulia, Anggi, Undang, Genta, Khanza

🎬 Awards :

1. Lady Filmmakers Festival : Best Feature Dance Film

2. Indiedance Film Festival :        
    - Gold Award Choreography
    - Silver Award Cinematography
    - Best Producer Award
    - Best Director Bronze
    - Best Documentary Bronze

3. Docs Without Borders Film Festival :     
Outstanding Excellence  
Excellence in Editing



THE END
















Comments

  1. Jempol banyaaaaak deh buat Pekalongan Menari & semua ofisialnya...Kalian membuat kami turut bangga!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Makaciiiiih atas segala supportnya mbak! Smg bs melahirkan karya2 baru lg dan bikin PM2 kecil lain, spy tradisi dpt trs dilestarikan

    ReplyDelete

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