Page 2 | Teaching Javanese dance in schools

Teaching dance in Indonesia

Contents

An introduction (1)

Teaching dance in Indonesia (2)

A workshop model (3)

Mask and character work (4)

Costume (5)

Music appreciation and follow-up (6)

Seleh Notes Volume 9 Number 2 March 2002

© Gill Roberts

Photographs:
Felicity Drown
Gill Roberts

This is also much the way dance is approached for children in Indonesia, although it is often seen as a means of moral and spiritual development as well.

In Britain, it can be used as a way of learning about aspects of another culture.

When I trained in East Java a few years ago, I noticed some significant differences in teaching approaches, as compared to the UK.

There tends to be more formality in the classroom than is common here; greater emphasis is placed on whole-group teaching and on repetition.

In a weekly children’s dance class, which I observed regularly in East Java, students ranged in age from about five to fifteen years old.

They learned by copying and following the teacher, and apart from a series of training exercises, actual dances were not always broken down into smaller segments; newcomers just had to pick things up as they went along.

Children (even very young ones) were expected to sustain their concentration for several hours, but they rarely asked questions.

So how to teach Javanese dance to children in this country? I don’t think you could transplant the Indonesian method over here.

Children here are less accustomed to concentrating for long periods, and tend to interact more directly with the teacher and with each other in the classroom.

They also need to be able to place what they are learning in a context that makes sense to them and which stimulates their interest.

Go to next page