An amazing ‘reog’ festival in Surakarta
By Budiman
Hendrato, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta | Nov 21, 2013
Tens of
dancers and musicians performing reog (masked dance) entertained hundreds of
people who attended the Semarak Singo Barong (the glorious monstrous tiger)
festival in Surakarta,
Central Java, on Tuesday night.
Held
outdoors for the first time at Balaikota (city hall), the event's main
attractions included warok (ascetic expert of martial arts) lifting tens of
kilograms using their teeth, Bujanganom and Jathilan (the bamboo horse dance).
It told the
story of King Kerono from Ponorogo Kingdom, who wanted to propose marriage to a
Kediri princess named Dewi Ragil Kuning. But on his way to Kediri Kingdom, his
entourage was ambushed by King Singa Barong from Kediri Kingdom.
The festival
aimed to accommodate reog's increasing popularity in Surakarta, although it is
originally born in the city of Ponorogo.
"As
both are cities in East Java, Surakarta and Ponorogo share similar
histories," Surakarta Culture and Tourism Office head Widdi Srihanto told
The Jakarta Post Travel during the show. "This is why you will find that
many reog dancers and musicians performing inside and outside the country, are
actually Surakartans or learned their skills in Surakarta."
To attract
more interest to the festival, competitions were also held with categories for
children, teenager and adult.
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