C. Brakel-Papenhuyzen Manuscripts of Javanese Court Dances In

C. Brakel-Papenhuyzen Manuscripts of Javanese court dances

In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 131 (1975), no: 2/3, Leiden, 344-348

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Tëgalrëja together with works of Muslim jurisprudence, such as the Muharrar and Takarub. Other Javanese-Islamic texts cited in the same passage are treatises on Islamic law and mysticism, the Usül and Tasawwuf, a Qur'an exegesis, the Taf Ar, and histories of the Prophets, the Sérat Anbiya, and more mystical texts such as the Suluk Makam Makrifat.17 Moralistic didactic works on Islamic politica! philosophy such as the Sirdt us-Salatïn and Tddj us-Saldtïn, which were studied by Dipanagara, were also popular at the Yogyakarta Kraton at that time; thus a later Yogya Babad mentioned the Tadj us-Salatïn as a text used by Sultan Hamërjkubuwana I,18 and it was later suggested by Dipanagara as reading material for his younger brother, Sultan Hamërjkubuwana IV (1814-1822).19 The Tddj us-Salatïn was the first text to be copied at the Yogyakarta Kraton af ter the Java War, a period which saw something of a renaissance in Babad writing at the court after the disastrous plundering of the kraton library by the British in 1812.20 The copyist of the text owned by R.Ay. Danukusuma, Kyai Dëmai) Surayuda, is mentioned in a list of Yogya officials (priyayi) compiled sometime after the Java War, but he appears to have been succeeded by his son R.T. Suradirja, who had been a follower of Dipanagara.21 It is likely that Kyai Surayuda was an official of the këpatihan in Yogya during the office of Danurëja II.

GLARA BRAKEL-PAPENHUYZEN

MANUSCRIPTS OF JAVANESE COURT DANCES

The existence of manuscripts containing detailed choreographic descriptions of Javanese court dances seems so far to have escaped the attention of scholars outside Central Javanese court circles, seeing that Dr. Pigeaud remarks in his Literature of Java (Vol. I, p. 289); "Javanese Manu- scripts especially dealing with dancing are not in evidence". 17 SB A. 136, XXXVI. 15-19, pp. 148-9, K1TLV Oriental MS. no. 13 (Buku Këdhung Këbo), IV. 32-8, pp. 47-8. The latter has: IV. 34. nuli salin karsa- nira / maca kitab-kitabe salin-salin / Usul kalawan Tasawup / Suluk Makam Makripat / irjkai} t)ucap ëning lawan sokuripun / pratuwin kumpule rasa / nuli salin kitab malih. (35) Tëkarar Tëkarub Topah / bab qibadah Hakikul- modin tan kari / sawulan sampun tutug / nuli asalin karsa / kinen maca sagui) Iayai3 Suluk-Suluk / wus katam asalin karsa / Ambiya winaca nuli. 18 SB A. 135, LVII. 1, p. 223. 18 Ibid., XC. 26-7, p. 388. 20 Drs. Mudjanattistomo, Kalalogus Manuskrip Kraton Jogjakarta, (Jogjakarta, 1971), p. 63, no. 235, Sërat Tadjusalatin (sic), copied in 1831. 21 Nederlands Bijbel Genootschap MS. (on loan to Leiden University Library) no. 133, portofolio VIII, no. 39, entry no. 37 on p. 5; de Koek private collection no. 158, 'Lijst der Personen welke zich als muitelingen hebben opgeworpen (sic)', entry no. 90 p. 4.

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It was during a recent investigation into these dances that I came across several MSS. of court dances, composed by dance masters in cooperation with the chief musicians. Evidence of their existence was found in the Kraton of Yogyakarta and in "Reksapustaka", the Mang- kunagaran Palace library in Solo. The library of the Surakarta Kraton has not been opened up to the genera! public. A person who does have access to this library told me^ however, that there are no dance MSS. to be found there at present. Lack of time has prevented me from making personal enquiries at the Paküalaman Palace in Yogyakarta, but reliable sources in Yogya have informed me that there have not been any special dance activities there for a considerable time. The MSS. I have seen are written in Javanese script on ordinary paper, one of them being illustrated with a few black and white photographs. Some of the MSS. carried a date (e.g. 24 April, 1931), while others have to be dated on the basis of internal evidence, such as the occasion for which the dance was composed, the outward appearance of the MS. itself, photographs, etc. None óf them appeared to be much older than the second decade of the present century, which is probably the reason why they do not form part of the collection of Indonesian MSS. in the Leiden University library. . The arrangement of these MSS. as regards the way in which a particular dance composition is.described is not the same in all cases; different authors make use of different systéms. However, this question can only be dealt with after careful investigation of a considerable number of different MSS. AÜ I intend to do here is to give a general idea of their content. The MSS. fnainlyconsist of extremely detailed descriptiöns of the movements of one dancer in chronological sequencë; these descriptiöns are given in the Javanese language, couched in traditional terminology, e.g. nyembah sila — (lit.) "salutation (withjoined palms in front of the face), cross-legged position."Thus, one term is used to denote a pose, a moveinent, or even a sequencë of movements of a particular part of the body. Most of the terminology seems to be fürly traditional and is known to teachers and students of court darices, but there are some differences both in movements and in terminology between Surakarta and Yogyakarta. Since in many classical dances the movements of the individual dancers are uniform, the description can often be applied to a group of dancers too. The floor movements of each dancer are indicated by means of a simple, indigenous notation system, which is either added in the margin or interspersed among the description of movements. When to beat the ketuk, kenong, kempul and gong is usually indicated, both next to the description of dance movements and with the texts of the songs accompanying the dance. The reason why precisely these instruments are mentioned is that the frequency with which they are struck determines both the structure of the musical composition and the duration of the dancer's ^movements. In- other words, a movement starts or ends with the beat of one of these instruments, whilst the great gong opens and

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One page from a MS. of Srimpi and Bedaya dances from the Yogyakarta Kraton. The dancer's movements are in Javanese script. Floor patterns are marked in the margin at left. closes the dance. Sometimes, the text of the accompanying songs is added to the dance MS., but frequently the choice of a text is left to the singer (pesindèn), to suit the mood and the occasion. The MS. with which Pangeran Suryobrongto, a brother of the Sultan of Yogyakarta, very kindly presented me contains descriptions of bedaya and srimpi dances composed by his father, who preceded him as the

Downloaded from Brill.com09/23/2021 11:51:12AM via free access KORTE MEDEDELINGEN 347 most prominent dance master at the Kraton. According to him the Kraton library possesses a number of such dance MSS. In Surakarta I was shöwn a collection of dance MSS. in the library of the Mangkunagaran Palace; these are at the moment being typed out in Latin script. R.M. Sanyoto, a member of the Mangkunagaran House, was kind enough to provide me with a complete inventory of the collection, comprising 44 items. The majority of the MSS. listed contain descriptions of beksan w.ireng or warrior's dances between two or a group of opponents, usually solcüers (prajurit) or heroes from the wayang repertoire (purwa and gedog). Two MSS. deal with female solo dances, namely gambyong from Solo and golèk from Yogya. Both dances were originally performed by professional dancing girls (tlèdèk), but have been taken up into the court repertoire quite recently. In addition, there are four gandrung dances, portraying a hero in love. The one MS. illustrated with photographs describes the basic male dance called tayungan. This series seems to cover all types of traditional dance popular at the courts in the present century, except the bedaya and srimpi dances, of which no descriptions seem to be extant in this library. At a later date I hope to be able to provide a more elaborate description of these MSS. This short note is intended merely to draw general attention to their existence, since I am convinced they will prove most useful aids for the study of dance and music in Central Java.

LIST OF THE "REKSAPUSTAKA" DANCE MS. COLLECTION 1. Pratelan Beksa Wireng: Wirun prang tanding kaliyan Raden Rangga Narantaka wujud tuwin beksanipun sami (kembar). gedog. 2. Pratelan Beksa Wireng: Mandrarini Sigaluh N. Bambang. 3. Pratelan Beksa Wireng: Klaha Jayengsari prang tanding kaliyan Klana Salyapati. gedog. 4. Pratelan Beksa Wireng: Arjunasasra prang tanding kaliyan Bambang Su- mantri. purwa (Lokapala). 5. Pratelan Beksa Wireng: Gatutkaca gandrung. purwa. 6. Bandawala. Raden Handaka prang tanding kaliyan Raden Macanwulung (Raden Dirgantara prang tanding kaliyan Raden Macanwulung), sami agalan beksanipun kembar. gedog. 7. Pratelan Beksa Wireng: Bandabaya. gedog. 8. Pratelan Beksa Wireng: Bandayuda. gedog. 9. Serat Pratelan Beksa Wireng: Wirapratama, Gatutkaca prang tanding kaliyan Antasena, Angkawijaya prang tanding kaliyan Irawan, purwa. 10. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Sancaya prang tanding kaliyan Kusumawicitra. gedog. 11. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Mandrasmara. purwa. 12. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Bandawasa. gedog. 13. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Panji Anem prang kaliyan Bugis. Petilan lampa- han ngrenaswara. gedog. 14. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Klana wayang-agalan angka 2. 15. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Rahwana-Arjunasasra. purwa (Lokapala). 16. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Karna tinanding. purwa. 17. Pratelan Beksan.Wireng: Baladewa-Gatutkaca. purwa.

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18. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Arjunasasra-Sumantri. purwa. 19. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Lenggotbawa 1. purwa. 20. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Bandawala. gedog. 21. Pratelan Beksan Gambyong: Gambir sawit M.N. 22. Pratelan Beksan Wireng: Lawung, sami alusan beksa kembar. gedog. 23. Pratelan Beksan Bugis: Rewataka. gedog. 24. Pratelan Beksan: Gatutkaca gandrung. purwa tunggal. 25. Beksan Wireng: Bandayuda. gedog. 26. Beksan Wireng Estri: Lenggotbawa 2. purwa. 27. Beksan Wireng: Balandara. purwa. 28. Beksan Wireng: Palgunadi prang tanding kaliyan Janaka. purwa. 29. Beksan Wireng: Klana Jayengsari, sami alusan. gedog. 30. Beksan Wireng: Hanoman-Indrajit. purwa. 31. Beksan Wireng: Supala prang kaliyan Janaka. purwa. 32. Beksan Wireng: Jaladara kaliyan Kartawiyoga. purwa. 33. Beksan Tayungan: Dasar palajaran Mangkunagaran. 34. Beksan: Danawa Raja gandrung. purwa. 35. Beksan Wireng: Wirapratama (Gatutkaca, Antasena, Angkawijaya, Irawan), purwa. 36. Beksan Wireng: Mandrasmara (prangipun Endang Pujawati kaliyan Endang Tejowati, dalah bapakipun Bagawan Kapiwara kaliyan Bagawan Mandrasa). purwa. 37. Beksan Wireng: Sancaya tanding kaliyan Kusumawicitra. gedog. 38. Pratelan Beksanipun: Klana topeng. gedog. 39. Beksan: Klana Jayengsari prang tanding kaliyan Klana Salyapati. gedog. 40. Pratelan Beksa Wireng: Bandabaya. gedog. 41. Beksa Wireng: Panji-Bugis. gedog. 42. Beksa: Mandraretna. 43. Turunan Beksa Wireng: Golek. beksa tunggal. 44. Beksa Wireng: Angkawijaya mengsah Danawa Cakil. purwa.

R. H. BARNES

COMMENTS ON A PANTAR LANGUAGE

Mr. Watuseke has presented evidence that a language on Pantar belongs to the Irian or Papuan family; but a question remains whether he may not have misplaced the language. He lists four languages on Alor and three on Pantar. Perhaps the best (to date) list of the languages on these islands is given by Vatter (/1932: 277-278/; see also Bouman /1943: 483-484/). Vatter lists eleven languages on Alor and five on Pantar, though he acknowledges that later research might reduce the number of recognized, independent languages on Alor. Two of the Alor languages, Coastal Alorese or Bahasa Alor and in one small enclave Këlong, are also found in spots on Pantar, as Vatter shows; so his number of languages on Pantar is actually seven. Salzner (1960) incorporates Vatter's evidence into his linguistic atlas, but Salzner is very unreliable in his taxonomy.

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