Utom Sutomo, Loyalty to ‘Ronggeng Amen’

Tatang Mulyana Sinaga

· 6 minutes read

The childhood of Utom Sutomo, 54, in Pangandaran, West Java, was filled with ronggeng performance from village to village. He wanted to maintain the activity by introducing the West Javanese traditional dance to the younger generation.

Cold air enveloped Katapang Doyong field on the east coast of Pangandaran on Saturday (13/7/2019) evening. No fewer than 300 people gathered around the field. In addition to local residents, a number of tourists also came to watch Ronggeng Amen.

Ronggeng amen (allegedly from the word ngamen or performing from one place to another) is the result of enriching the traditional ronggeng gunung art, a typical ancient dance full of rituals that develops in the mountains of Ciamis and Pangandaran. Unlike the mountain ronggeng which only uses three types of musical instruments, namely kendang indung, kenong and gong indung, ronggeng amen uses more musical instruments and a variety of songs making it more festive.

On the stage, Utom was busy checking a number of musical instruments, such as gendang, rebab, gambang, saron, bonang and gong, whether they function properly. He is the leader of Wirahma Sari Putra 2, an artist group that will feature the ronggeng amen. The group founded in 1972 was invited to enliven the Pangandaran International Kite Festival 2019.

The show starts with slow tempo music. The voice of the sinden that sang Sundanese songs sounded loud. Six female ronggeng danced on the stage. They wore red kebaya and black scarves wrapped around their necks. Foot movements in tune with the tempo of the music. While still dancing, they form a circle formation.

About 15 minutes later, the dancers took to the field. They re-formed a

small circle in the middle of the field. The audience approached to the middle of the field in an orderly manner. They also formed larger circle formations around the dancer. The formation continued to grow to more than 15 layers of circle.

Gradually, the tempo of the music accelerated. The movements of the hands, feet and body followed. The movements were enough to warm the body in cold weather with a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius. From the stage, Utom smiled at them. The audience that night became one of the most crowded in the group\'s performance.

"Moreover, most of the viewers are young people. That means, Ronggeng Amen is still attractive. This adds enthusiasm to continue to preserve Sundanese culture," he said.

Ups and downs

The Wirahma Sari Putra 2 group led by Utom came from Cikembulan village, Pangandaran. However, they also often visit various celebrations in Banjar City and Ciamis regency.

Performing on average once a week, the group\'s stage tariff is around Rp 5.5 million. The money is spent to pay the sinden, dancers, musicians, and the cost of transporting musical instruments. On one stage, the number of personnel involved can reach 20 people.

Not infrequently Utom and his partners had to walk on a trail to fulfill the invitation to visit remote villages. If it\'s a rainy day, they have to walk through the muddy road. Expenditures also swell because they have to pay ojek to transport musical instruments.

On the basis of efficiency, Utom actually has the choice of refusing to perform in a remote location. However, he did not make that choice.

"If I rejected the invitation, I am worried that people will give up on inviting Ronggeng Amen. It’s okay that the cost went up. Most important is this culture is not forgotten," he said.

Maintaining a traditional art group is not easy. There’re many challenges and temptations. If they only think about material, the business of dangdut orchestras or organ tunggal (singer with keyboardist) is more tempting.

One challenge is to foster the interest of the younger generation. This requires extra effort amid the growing pop culture. During the group’s performance, Utom always featured young dancers. The goal is to introduce ronggeng amen to children from an early age.

"If there are small children among the dancers, parents will not hesitate to invite their children to watch. So, this is a way to introduce ronggeng amen to children," he said.

Wirahma Sari Putra 2 member Anang Suryana, 55, said that the ronggeng group was one of the keys to preserve harmony. Without the group, the musicians and dancers will lose a mean for expression. "The ronggeng group must be maintained. That way, there is a mean to continue to preserve it," he said.

Cultural heritage

Utom never received formal education in arts. His last education was from the Tasikmalaya Sports Teacher School (SGO). He had the chance to become a teacher. However, the direction of his life changed after graduating from SGO in 1985. His childhood memories of watching ronggeng from village to village rose. At that time, the mountain ronggeng which was the forerunner of ronggeng amen was rarely performed.

The emergence of ronggeng amen in the early 1990s attracted Utom\'s attention. He learned to play accompaniment instruments, such as gendang, saron and gong. While doing ronggeng activity, he also met his first wife, Kuswi, who died in 2008.

The Wirahma Sari Putra 2 group led by Utom is also a legacy of the Kuswi family. Utom used to play saron, Kuswi as sinden. In addition to

performing as sinden, Kuswi also trains children and teenagers to dance. Meanwhile, Utom trains young people to play ronggeng music.

For Utom, maintaining the Wirahma Sari Putra 2 group is not just about continuing his wife\'s inheritance. It is also an effort to keep the art of ronggeng from becoming extinct.

According to Utom, ronggeng is not an ordinary dance. Its movements are full of meaning. The rhythmic movements of the hands, feet and body reflect the regularity of life based on the norms and values that apply in society. The audience who participated in the dance must also adjust it. The harmony of step swings and hand movements must be maintained. If not, it will collide with the person in front of or behind him or her.

The sinden dialogue with the juru alok (narrator) also contains messages of virtue. The dialogue is not rigid. It can change according to the message you want to convey.

Time seemed to fly. The night by the Pangandaran Beach was getting late. The ronggeng circle has not stopped or broken up, it got even bigger. As if it told the people the importance of being together.

It is like the song from the sinden that reads, "Adem ayem di Meralaya/ Ayo kawan mari bersama/ Pancasila kita jaga sama-sama/". (It’s peaceful in Meralaya/Come on, friend, let\'s get together/we keep the Pancasila together.)

Utom Sutomo

Born:

Pangandaran, 24 April 1965

Education:

Sport Teacher Education of Tasikmalaya

Job:

Leader of Wirahma Sari Putra 2 troupe

Editor:

kompascetak utom sutomo