Presenting the Art of Dance to the Community through Solo Menari Events

(Surakarta, April 29, 2023) Dance is a beautiful art with a certain meaning behind it, a beautiful art even though it is only enjoyed with the sense of sight. However, in this modern era and gadgets, the beauty of dance is increasingly forgotten. Therefore, the Solo City government held another Solo Menari event which was directly supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy on Saturday (29/4/2023). Mr. Sandiaga Uno as the minister of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy also came to the event to witness and provide direct support to this event. The purpose of this event is to bring and reintroduce the art of dance to the community. In addition to introducing the art of dance, the Solo City government also wants to introduce that Solo is a city of culture, as well as to commemorate International Dance Day.

This year’s Solo Menari event looks different from the previous year, with the theme “Dancing the public space” this year’s series of events are held at various locations around the city of Surakarta. Starting from the Ngarsopuro Corridor in the morning for welcoming and opening, with Bedhayan mass dance continued at Pasar Gedhe Hardjonagoro filled with dance performances set to the Ramayana story; then at the Paragon Mall location enlivened by various Modern Dance Performance performances; in the evening, the excitement was felt at the Surakarta City Hall with various traditional dance performances in the Gelar Tari Rakyat series of events and closed with the excitement of the last series of events, namely Urban Street Dance Performance located on the Gatot Subroto Corridor. 

The holding of various series of Solo Menari events in various locations is not without reason, there are certain goals and objectives behind the many locations of this series of events.

“I heard from one of the organizers, the purpose of holding this event in various places is because dance can not only be seen from the stage. But in this event, we hold the event in places that are familiar with people’s daily lives, for example at Pasar Ghede. People might not think there will be dancers there, we bring that to life. So we don’t make our own stage, but the stage is natural with the intention of mingling more with the community,” said Hilmi, one of the volunteers from the Solo Menari event.

There are differences in the arrangement of the event, this makes good progress for this event. There were about more than 200 dancers who participated in enlivening this event, there were even dancers from abroad who participated in giving extraordinary performances, the foreign dancers came from the country of Equador. He brought a traditional dance typical of the country of Equador happily, but interestingly after he danced the traditional dance of his country he then brought traditional Javanese dance skillfully. 

The dancers who took part mostly came from dance studios that registered, there were also vocational students who came from the dance department who performed nicely at this event.

Hilmi as a volunteer of this event also said “For the total dance registrants for the entire series of events around more than 200 people, the series of events are from Pasar Ghede to Gatot Subroto. There were also dancers from abroad who performed at this event (Gelar Tari Rakyat)”

This year’s Solo Menari event is even more interesting because this event also opens opportunities for people who want to participate in dancing Bedhayan Dance, they can register on the web page provided, registration is opened within a month before the event. Then, later the people who participate will still be coordinated and directed by the director in charge of creating a maximum performance.

“Registration is opened within a month before the month of the event, during that month we focus on training, the last 2 weeks on stage too. There are coordinators from the committee, there is also a director to prepare one series of bedhayan dance events, then in Pasar Gede it is more integrated with the market, well there is a director,” added Hilmi. 

This Solo Menari event can be said to be quite large because of its wider range of coverage than in previous years, the enthusiasm of the residents around Surakarta City can also be said to be very extraordinary, thousands of people crowded into various locations in this series of events to witness firsthand the Dance Art presented. They enjoyed extraordinary performances of various types of traditional and modern dance, with different background meanings. If usually people often enjoy dance only through various social media platforms that rely on the internet, with this event they can enjoy and watch directly.

The success of this event also gives a positive impression on ordinary people and cultural connoisseurs, Hilmi as a volunteer and cultural connoisseur expects more from the Solo Menari Event in the future. 

“My hope as a volunteer and as a cultural connoisseur is that it can run not only this year but can be continuous once a year at least, and also not only become a national event but can become an international event that brings in many visitors. With this dance event, children who are already familiar with the world of gadgets can attract their attention that dancing is something interesting so that there is a desire in them to know and even learn to practice dance. Maybe this event can also reduce their addiction to gadgets,” Hilmi said with a proud smile.

Writer : Fadiya Shofar Rosyidah (Communication Science ’20)

Reporter : Naufal Akiela Darmakusala (Accounting ’21), Ihsan Cahya Kusuma Sinuraya (Civil Engineering ’21), Fadiya Shofar Rosyidah (Communication Science ’20)

Editor : Shafaa Azka Indradi (Psychology ’21)