Welcoming Runners with Cheers and Dance

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Students of SD Negeri Tanjungsari state elementary school in Tanjungsari village, Borobudur district, Magelang regency, Central Java, practice the Indonesian Smile creation dance on Wednesday (17/10/2018). They are preparing to cheer on runners at the upcoming Borobudur Marathon event.

The Borobudur Marathon is a huge communal celebration for local residents, who made extensive preparations to welcome the event with cheers, music and dance.

In their mission to promote friendship, more than a dozen children were practicing a dance in a classroom at SDN Tanjungsari state elementary school in Borobudur district, Magelang regency, Central Java. They cheerfully followed the directions of their instructor, Loh Sari Larasati.

“[We are] practicing for the run. So exciting!” said Sely, 10. Along with 22 of her classmates, the fifth-grader followed Larasati’s moves spiritedly. On Nov. 18, Sely and her friends will cheer on the marathon runners with the “Senyum Indonesia” (Indonesia’s Smile) dance.

Larasati said that she chose the dance because it combined various traditional dances from across the archipelago, including Acehnese, Balinese and Papuan dances. “The moves are easy to learn. Children will be able to entertain the runners with a variety dances from all over Indonesia,” said Larasati, who comes from Magelang’s Kinara-Kinari dance studio.

She continued that the SDN Tunjungsari students began learning the dance in mid-October. They have been practicing in five 1.5-hour sessions so they can give their best performance for the 10,000 or so Indonesian and foreign runners.

As in the 2017 Borobudur Marathon, cheerleading teams will line along the entire route. Runners in the 10K, half marathon and full marathon will be able to greet them during their run. Last year, many runners stopped to joke and take selfies with the youth cheerleading teams.

Festive

Students were also seen practicing their cheers at SDN Wanurejo state elementary school in Wanurejo village. The students had just begun practicing in early October. Dance instructor Elisabet Pangesti Wahyudianti, 34, the owner of Avadana dance studio, said that she and the school management had agreed to make this year’s cheers more festive.

So Elisabet modified the jathilan dance. At last year’s marathon, the music and dance movements flowed smoothly. This year, however, they upped the ante so everything was more spirited and cheerful.

“Apart from dancing, the jathilan will also include segments when the children shout ‘hokya-hokya’,” she said, referring to a popular cheer in Javanese performances.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Students of SD Negeri Tanjungsari state elementary school in Tanjungsari village, Borobudur district, Magelang regency, Central Java, practice the Indonesian Smile creation dance on Wednesday (17/10/2018). They are preparing to cheer on runners at the upcoming Borobudur Marathon event.

The jathilan involves 20 students. Elisabet said that 10 to 12 other students were trained in four new dances, the Kupu, Nawung Sekar, Nyawiji Bumi and Sesampahan.

Learning from last year’s event, SDN Wanurejo is preparing special tents for the student dancers and karawitan (traditional music) musicians in the case of rains.

“We will do everything we can to make the performances at this year’s Borobudur Marathon better and more special than last year,” said SDN Wanurejo principal Endang Susilowati.

‘Guests are kings’

Endang said that the festive welcome for the marathon runners was a form of friendship that followed the Javanese philosophy, “guests are kings”. The Borobudur community wanted to be well-prepared to welcome the runners.

In addition to welcoming these “guests” to their town, the local community also wanted to be part of the huge event. It is no wonder, then, that around 100 students of MTsN 1 Magelang state Islamic middle school spent the night before at the school so they could begin their welcome cheer on time.

“Many of our students live far away, some around seven kilometers away, in regions not easily accessible by cars,” said MTsN 1 Magelang principal Gunartomo.

Aside from students, the villagers of Tempurejo in Tempuran district had also prepared a show to cheer on the runners. Fifteen dancers from the village’s theatrical arts troupe will perform the leakan and warokan dances to a gamelan accompaniment.

Tempurejo social welfare head Prasetyo Abadi said that the troupe had been practicing the gamelan for the past month. “As a host, we wish to contribute to the event’s success,” he said.

The villagers would also provide snacks and hot beverages for the runners, just as they did last year. Prasetyo said the social welfare unit was working with the women villagers to provide the food and drink.

Magelang tourism, youth and sports agency head Iwan Sutiarso said that the local community’s initiatives were representative of the famed Indonesian friendliness, as was also evident last year. Sports, culture and tourism were all part of a universal language.

We can all learn about harmony from Borobudur.

(REGINA RUKMORINI)