The new creation dance is made to maintain the Betawi art tradition. Its roots date back to the Dutch era.
The hands of the young dancers began to swing. His legs back and forth and tiptoe in such a way. Her hips bobbed as her head swung to the rhythm of her hips. Kromong gamelan music regulates the tempo of their agile movements.
That’s the ronggeng blantek dance or sometimes written blantek dance. A dance creation rooted in Betawi folk performances during the Dutch colonial period, this dance also enriches the treasures of Indonesian dance.
Ronggeng blantek is a new dance creation that was adapted from Betawi folk theater, namely the blantek mask. Mask is a term for acting or comedy, while the name blantek is taken from the sound of the accompanying music which always reads “blang blang tek tek”.
According to Yasmine Zaki Shahab in Betawi in Contemporary Perspective: Development, Potential and Challenges, the blantek mask was originally brought by beginners who were learning to play mask or lenong. The musical accompaniment is tambourine prick. There is also a simple gamelan accompaniment. Even the cans that are beaten are like Kromong. “That blatantly loud sound then gave birth to the term “blank”,” wrote Yasmine Zaki Shahab.
In the past, the blantek mask itself was a folk theater performance that was usually staged to entertain the landlords. The blantek mask usually tells about the life of the Betawi people which is packed with jokes.
The blantek mask show is usually opened or preceded by a ronggeng dance. In its development, this dance was released and the choreographer packaged his own creative form into the Ronggeng Blantek dance which was performed separately.
“Blantek dance (ronggeng blantek), is lifted from a Dutch theatrical performance, namely the blantek mask, where in starting a performance, as an opening, it begins with a dance performance (ronggeng blantek), writes Encyclopedia Jakarta: Culture & Heritage Volume 3.
The emergence of ronggeng blantek cannot be separated from the Betawi arts development project held by the DKI Jakarta regional government since 1970. This is based on the fact that rapid modernization has more or less marginalized Betawi traditional arts. So, a Betawi Tradition Workshop was held to raise awareness of the Betawi community for its existence. Various dances are created based on traditions that have long existed in Betawi culture.
However, it was only in 1978 that the DKI Jakarta Culture Service developed the Ronggeng blantek dance as a new dance creation. The choreographer is Wiwiek Widiyastuti, who studied dance since childhood and studied dance at the Bagong Kussudiardjo Dance Workshop, the Indonesian Dance Academy (ASTI) Yogyakarta, and the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ).
According to Siti Uswatun Chasanah in her thesis “Acceptance of the Betawi Muslim Community towards the Musical Art of Gambang Kromong and Ronggeng Blantek Dance in the Betawi Cultural Village of Setu Babakan”, ronggeng blantek is a Betawi dance creation that was deliberately created and classified in the type of mask dance.
“The ronggeng blantek dance consists of several parts, first the introduction, the content, then the closing. In the closing, it was modified to include several Betawi silat movements,” said Chasanah.
Based on the choreographer’s statement, Chasanah said that in general the Ronggeng Blantek dance is divided into three parts of movement. The first part is graceful movements with a relaxed rhythm. The second part, the rhythm starts quickly with energetic dance moves. And third, the ronggeng blantek dance includes several Betawi silat movements as the climax.
This dance is performed by 4-6 female dancers wearing brightly colored clothes. The dancer’s costume consists of a pink kebaya, white tumpal cloth and a scarf with a Hong bird motif, red cross toka-toka, ampok, and napkins. Accessories on the head are a flower mask, three-tiered lotus necklace, pending, and yellow earrings. The use of the Hong bird or phoenix motif from Chinese mythology shows the presence of Chinese influence.
In addition, according to Chasanah, there is an element of Islam in the selection of ronggeng blantek clothing. This can be seen from the clothes that are made more closed and dance movements that consider the value of politeness. This is what makes ronggeng blantek not negatively imaged like most ronggeng dances in other areas.
“Similar to the gambang kromong, Islamic elements in the ronggeng blantek dance are conveyed implicitly in the dance movements and clothing, not by displaying absolute symbols of Islam,” wrote Chasanah.
To accompany the ronggeng blantek dance, a Betawi mask gamelan is played, consisting of a fiddle, three kenong, and kecrek. Sometimes a tambourine is also used. In many variations, a combination of tanji musical instruments is often used, such as trumpet, trombone, baritone, drum, gong, cymbal, and tehyan.
In its development, the ronggeng blantek dance movement was put into practice. Based on the formulation of the Department of Tourism and Culture of DKI Jakarta Province, ronggeng blantek has basic movements consisting of 31 movements; each involving foot, body, hand, and head movements.
Ronggeng blantek dance movements are very fast, energetic, and flexible. There are many terms or names in the unique basic movements of the ronggeng blantek dance: lenggang rongeh, ogek, surfing ngepik, pakblang, ngepak blonter, tepak ngarojeng, coma gelong, rocking cendol ijo, and so on.
In the past, the ronggeng blantek dance was performed as the opening act of the blantek mask show, now the dance is actually a complement to the mask show. In addition, the ronggeng blantek dance is performed at various Betawi cultural events and is often used to welcome guests who are considered noble.*
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