Jaipongan dance is very well known in Indonesia. It seems almost impossible if there are Indonesian people who do not know jaipongan dance. Yes, jaipong dance is often displayed in various artistic performances. Not only that, the dance is also often performed in dangdut events so it is often known as the jaipong shake. Almost all dangdut artists always demonstrate the jaipong movement on stage.
But do you know who actually created the dance? He is the maestro, Gugum Gumbira Tirasondjaja. Born in Bandung, West Java on April 4, 1945.
He is known as a Sundanese composer, orchestra leader, choreographer, and businessman. As a choreographer, Gugum has a lot of dance references. Currently Gugum also teaches dance at STSI Bandung.
“Jaipongan dance is rooted in tradition not modernization. Dance, from the beginning until now is very dynamic, to the dance I do not say that the dance is not jaipongan but I say that it is a form of creativity,” he said.
As reported by disparbud.jabarprov.go.id, Wednesday (12/4/2017) Gugum adapted various dance movements which were then combined with the martial arts movements. It aims to give the image that women who are beautiful, flexible, and attractive, are able to defend themselves through martial arts movements.
Jaipongan made its debut in 1974. At that time, Gugum and his first gamelan and dancer appeared in public. The government then immediately tried to suppress this dance, because it was considered immoral. That is because this dance is called Tap Tilu development which shows the female sensuality.
However, Jaipongan survived the ban after the Indonesian government banned foreign pop music for several years. Jaipong then and went crazy in the 1980s.
Around the decade of 80 to 90s, Gugum created other dances such as Toka-toka, Setra Sari, Sonteng, Pencug, and others. The dances are the development of Jaipong dance. Jaipongan, the first work of Gugum, which began to be known to the public, was the dance “Daun Pulus Keser Bojong” and “Rendeng Bojong”. Both are types of princess dance and pair dance (male and female). From the dance, there are names of reliable Jaipongan dancers such as Tati Saleh, Yeti Mamat, Eli Somali, and Pepen Dedi Kurniadi.
