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| The students were very good in performing traditional dances although they are not Indonesian people. |
Combination of local wisdom and international nuance were very felt in International Gathering of 540 foreign students Darmasiswa Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemdikbud RI) activities which took place at University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), Monday to Wednesday (8-10/5).
Although coming from 78 different countries, the event was not seen awkward with local culture of Indonesia. Hundreds of foreign students looked shrewd when performing their skill of Indonesian art, ranging from dance, regional songs, traditional musical instruments, until musical poetry.
Some of dances performed by foreign students were topeng dance, kicir-kicir dance, kecak dance, kratak golek dance dance, krono rojo dance, rampak rebana dance, and randai dance. They also seemed shrewd in playing Javanese musical instruments such as gongs, drums, gambang, bonang, demung, flute, kempul, and peking. It was also similar when playing poetry musicals and Indonesian national anthems.
One of students who were from France, Solenn Hus, admitted that he was impressed about diversity of Indonesian culture he did not find in other countries. For him, Indonesia is a country that never thought to visit. However, since the first visit with his family to Indonesia in 2009, Solenn changed his mind. According to him, Indonesia is a special country. This was what underlies Solenn choosing Indonesian language course on his campus in France.
"Indonesia is extraordinary. Tribes, languages, friendly people, and the culture. I have never found in other countries. The first time I went to Indonesia in 2009. Then, I take vacation to Indonesia every year. I fell in love with the cultural traditions of Sulawesi, Bali, and Lombok. I can learn a lot from the country with the most Muslim population. Unity in diversity. Bhinneka Tunggal Ika," Solenn explained.
At the moment of cultural performances, students of Darmasiswa UMM collaborated poetry, dance, and music in poetry musicals. Carolina Ximena Carderas Carva Cho, student who was from Chile and Cipriano Amaral from East Timor reflected the struggle of the Indonesian youth narrating the establishment of Boedi Utomo, the first youth organization in Indonesia through narrative reading. Four students who were from Thailand, Germany and Malaysia recited poetry, six students from Sudan, Thailand, Cambodia, South Korea and Vietnam sang Indonesian Jaya, and six students from Germany, South Korea, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam performed Indonesian dance, kicir-kicir dance.
Meanwhile, foreign students of STIE Malang Kucecwara performed dance of Malang namely topeng dance. Furthermore, Bali Darmasiswa students who were from three campuses performed their ability to dance Balinese, Kecak Dance. They came from Udayana University, Bali State Polytechnic, and IKIP Saraswati Bali.
No less spectacular, at the end of the event, collaboration of Darmasiswa Yogyakarta students including Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta State University, Yogyakarta Art Institute of Indonesia, Sanata Darma University, P4TK Arts and Culture Ahmad Dahlan University. Dozens of foreign students presented their ability to play Javanese musical instruments such as gong, drums, gambang, bonang, demung, flute, kempul, and Peking.
These students performed the Golek Sri Katon Dancing, Krono Rojo Dance, played the Ketawang Ambono Gendang, and Gending Wasono as well. Their ability to play this traditional musical instrument was very good although they are not Indonesian people. In fact, if it was not seen who was playing, people would guess it was played by indigenous. This performance was greeted with a roar of applause and praise from all students of Darmasiswa RI and people invited. (Ich / han)
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