This double bill from Nan Jombang Dance Company is part of the New Dance from Indonesia programme at the Brisbane Powerhouse during Brisbane Festival 2010.

In SangHawa (Eve), choreographer Ery Mefri contemplates Eve, the first woman in the story of creation shared by Islam, Christianity and Judaism.  In matrilineal Minangkabau culture, property is owned by women and passed from mother to daughter.

Abstract and beautiful, the dialogue in the dance is performed by the company’s senior artists, showing how the interaction between Minang men and women in relation to property, family, religion and love is unique in the world.

The second piece, Rantau Berbisik (Whisperings of Exile)  is inspired by the long tradition of Minang men migrating across the archipelago to make their fortune before retuning home. In Rantau Berbisik, Ery Mefri brings together the physical, the spiritual, the ancient and the contemporary in what can only be described as a dance “tour de force”.  

See these works and also the work of choreographer Hartati in Di Dalam/Di Luar (In/Out) and take advantage of the special Two Show Ticket Package for New Dance from Indonesia.

 

ABOUT NEW DANCE FROM INDONESIA

The Minangkabau region in Indonesia is famous for food and dance and is home to the country’s most important contemporary choreographers.  Its unique alchemy of martial arts, folk dance, spiritual discipline, social formality and a penchant for migration creates the nucleus of this breathtakingly beautiful and original marriage between ancient tradition and modernism.

The two choreographers featured in New Dance from Indonesia are Hartati and Ery Mefri. Both have their foundations in the coastal highlands of West Sumatra. 
 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Brisbane Powerhouse Tour of Contemporary Indonesian Dance Companies is supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-Indonesia Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.