Rachel Harrison, 34, came to Java as a geologist aiming to find “emas” (gold). Not only did she find gold, but she also gets “mas-mas” (brothers) and “mbak-mbak” (sisters), who took her to the centers of Javanese culture.
By
Budi Suwarna
·6 minutes read
ARSIP PRIBADI
Rachel Harrison
Rachel Harrison, 34, came to Java as a geologist aiming to find “emas” (gold). Not only did she find gold, but she also gets “mas-mas” (brothers) and “mbak-mbak” (sisters), who took her to the centers of Javanese culture. Now, she becomes a European who is so "stubborn" to preserve Javanese classical dance.
The sound of gamelan is heard softly from the porch of a Joglo traditional house at the foot of a hill in Pete hamlet, Borobudur, Magelang regency, Central Java, on Thursday (29/11/2018) afternoon which was wet with rain. In between the gamelan musicians, Rachel performed a Javanese classical dance with very gentle movements. She let her gold-colored hair fall loose.
“I love Javanese classical dance which demands patience and high concentration. I don’t like modern dance,” said Rachel, who used to perform dances to the tune of the gamelan play by members of the Joglo Pete Studio. She founded the studio two years ago with his husband, Adi Maryono.
Members of the studio consisted of mothers and fathers, whom Rachel met and invited from a number of hamlets in the Magelang area such as Kerug Batur hamlet. “The hamlet is far from here. They have to walk an hour to come here on a steep road. Even though it\'s far away, they are diligent in coming here,” Rachel said.
They routinely practice every Thursday afternoon until late afternoon. Every Saturday, the Joglo Pete Studio also organizes classical dance and musical exercises for young children. Anyone can come and not have to pay. All training costs including consumption and honorarium for coaches are borne by Rachel.
“I setup the studio, among other things, to find male dancers. Male dancers are rare here, even though some Javanese classical dances must be performed in pairs, male and female,” he said.
So far, Rachel’s pair to perform the Javanese classical dance has come from Prambanan and Boyolali. “I want to see a male dancer from Borobudur one day.”
Rachel said her activities with the Joglo Pete Studio just flowed. In the past, every New Year’s Eve, Rachel and her husband rented a set of gamelan to perform at the Joglo house. “Finally we bought our own gamelan to be played every day. Then, we made a studio. There is no intention at all to make it a business,” she said.
She had a plan to make a kind of place or venue for classical dance performances in Borobudur. “Maybe that way Javanese classical dances can be preserved,” he said.
Village people
Rachel used to live in a quiet village since childhood. She was born and spent his childhood in Allexton, a village in Leicester, east of England. She described Allexton as a hilly village with many rivers so that people went everywhere riding horses.
ARSIP PRIBADI
Rachel Harrison
Allexton is small and quiet, smaller than Pete hamlet, where Rachel now lives. “There are only 10 families living there, the total population is only 30 people. Maybe more sheep than humans there, ha-ha,” Rachel said, making a comparison.
Besides that, Allexton is also very cold. Rachel shuddered her body to describe how cold Allexton was. However, the coldness of the village was offset by the warmth of its citizens. “Maybe, because the population is small, we used to living together,” Rachel recalled.
After high school in Leicester, Rachel traveled to Bristol, about 200 kilometers from Leicester, to continue her studies in the field of geology. Furthermore, she flew very far south of the Earth to gain a master’s and doctorate in geology at the University of Tasmania, Australia.
After graduating from college, she worked as a geologist with the task of finding gold in various parts of the world. She went in and out of the forests, hills, mountains and rivers in a number of countries to find gold, and finally anchored in Banyuwangi, East Java, in 2008.
As soon as she set foot in Java, she immediately fell in love with the culture and the people. One of the Javanese she met, Adi Maryono, later became her husband. “Traveling far away to find gold in Java, I met and married with ‘mas-mas Jawa’ [Javanese guy], ha-ha-ha.”
Her husband is also a geologist from Kudus. He played a major role in introducing Javanese culture and dances to Rachel. They married in 2014 with Javanese customs in a joglo house they had built before in Pete hamlet. Rachel decided to stop working and settled in the quiet and peaceful hamlet. “I don’t want to move to another place. I fell in love with this place.”
ARSIP PRIBADI
Rachel Harrison (kiri) saat tampil menari tarian klasik jawa dalam sebuah acara perkawinan (Foto: Arsip Pribadi).
Six months after that, she was serious about learning the classical Javanese dance from Wisnu Wahyudi and and Medy Mardiana from the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) Yogyakarta. Then, she studied dance from Eko Sunyoto in Tingaal village, Borobudur, and Ratih Dewayani. She also studied gamelan from a number of teachers, such as Ki Yulius Gunawan, Heri Widiyanto and Agnesia Tutik Utami. From years of learning, Rachel mastered 12 classical dances, including Gambyong, Bedaya, Cakil Pamangan, Srikandi Larasati and Lambangsih.
She has performed in many shows, starting from a show in isolated hamlets to the luxurious hotels in Borobudur. In 2017, she even danced classical dance on the side of the road to enliven the Borobudur Marathon. “I like to perform dances in the hamlets. Besides that, I like to dance at temples and mountains because the energy is huge,” she said.
When she performed dances in the village, including in the wedding celebration, Rachel felt the true familiarity and friendliness of the hamlet people. They all seemed happy to see Rachel dancing. Then, they sincerely paid Rp 50,000. She accepts sincerely whatever they give. “I usually hand over the money to my group.”
Rachel claimed to dance not to make money. She danced because she loved classical Javanese dances. By performing Javanese dance, she proceeded to become a Javanese. Everyday she speaks fine Javanese. She likes to eat Javanese food, including mendoan tempeh and pete (stink beans) fried rice. “Fried rice without the stink beans is not fried rice,” she joked.
She also performed several Javanese traditions such as “ngrowot”, which is avoiding rice and replacing it with tubers as a symbol of concern. Every time she wants to perform classical dance, she also ensures that she is not getting menstruation.
“I once got fainted because I didn\'t realize I was having my period while I was dancing,” Rachel said timidly. She closed her lips with her hands. In fact, the way she expressed her shyness is similar to that of most Javanese women.
No wonder the people around her say, Rachel has truly become a Javanese. She may be more Javanese than most Javanese.
Rachel Harrison
Born:Leicester, Nov. 13, 1984
Husband: Adi Maryono
Education: Leicester High School
- Master of Science in Geology from University of Bristol
; Master of Economic Geology from University of Tasmania
; Doctor in Geology from University of Tasmania
Activity:
Classic Javanese dancer; Founder of Sanggar Joglo Pete studio
