100 JAROG DANCE FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS : Case Study in The Celebration of The International Dance Day in Surakarta Eko Wahyu Institut Seni Indonesia Surakarta, Indonesia E-mail: ekow.isi@ yahoo.com Abstract The International Dance Day is celebrated every year as a self-expression since dances belong to the world. Jarog dance was created to facilitate children with special needs in order to celebrate the International Dance Day in Surakarta in 2013. The research method applied was data collection consisting of observation, interview and documentation. The data analysis was the narrative one by using qualitative approach. The research result shows that Jarog is a new creation dance which combines Jaranan dance and Reog dance. The main functions of Jarog dance are character education, entertainment, and self-confidence improvement. Persistent learning, special commands by beating kendhang loudly and raising hands highly in every movement change and the rhythm of the instruments supporting the dance are needed. There were internal and external factors which support and obstruct the dance performance. The internal supporting factors were motivation, identification, sympathy and audience’s interest, while the external supporting factors were the influence of the world recognition, the motto ”Solo Berseri”, and the development of technology. The obstructing internal factors were the difficulties in practicing and adapting the movement, gendhing which was memorized easily, the beats of kendhang and other instruments which should have been louder. The external obstructing factors were the time-consuming rehearsal which interfered the children’s study hours, less attention from their parents, and the poor cooperation with the supporting karawitan musicians. TARI JAROG ANAK BERKEBUTUHAN KHUSUS: Studi Kasus dalam Rangka Hari Tari Dunia di Surakarta Abstrak Hari tari dunia diperingati setiap tahun sebagai ekspresi diri karena tari dianggap sebagai milik dunia. Tari Jarog diciptakan untuk memenuhi anak berkebutuhan khusus dalam rangka merayakan hari tari dunia di Surakarta tahun 2013. Metode penelitian meliputi pengumpulan data yang terdiri atas observasi, wawancara dan dokumentasi. Analisis data bersifat naratip, dengan menggunakan pendeka- tan kualitatif. Hasil penelitian yang dicapai, Jarog merupakan tari kreasi baru yang menggabungkan antara tari Jaranan dengan tari Reog. Fungsi utama tari Jarog ada- lah sebagai pendidikan karakter, hiburan yang menyenangkan, dan meningkat- kan kepercayaan diri. Diperlukan pembelajaran yang ulet, aba-aba khusus melalui pukulan kendhang yang keras dengan angkatan tangan yang tinggi pada waktu perpindahan gerak tari serta bunyi irama instrumen sebagai pendukung tari. Ter- dapat faktor yang mendukung dan menghambat dalam pentas tari, baik faktor in- ternal maupun faktor eksternal. Faktor internal yang mendukung adalah motivasi, identifikasi, simpati dan animo penonton dari luar. Adapun faktor eksternal yang mendukung adalah pengaruh pengakuan dunia, slogan Solo berseri, dan perkem- bangan teknologi. Faktor penghambat dari dari dalam antara lain kesulitan dalam Eko Wahyu, Jarog Dance for Children with Special Needs 101 INTRODUCTION The International Dance Day is an international recognition of the existence of dances. Every dancer throughout the world including those in Surakarta danced for twenty four hours. Since the recogni- tion of the day, a dancing event has been held in Surakarta by involving several fa- mous dancers and other participants who dance to celebrate the day. There were also formal education institutions and dance studios in Surakar- ta which participate in the International Dance Day celebration. As children parti- cipants, the students of the Special School of Panca Bakti Mulia Foundation Sura- karta also participated by performing a dance for children with special needs. The students actively participated as the dan- cers, pengrawit or singers. Those students needed more specialized means to facili- tate their personality which was different from those of students of normal schools. In 2013, the Special School performed new- ly created Jarog dance with Surakarta style to celebrate the International Dance Day. The meaning of the selection of Jarog dance was the combination of two outstanding powers of horse and lion which are often considered as the symbols of power in Ja- vanese culture ( Sudarno, interview at Ap- ril 21, 2013) . The International Dance Day is a mo- ment in which dance artists, performers, art lovers and art communities gather and share their creativity to the public. In the International Dance Day 2013 in Surakarta, the performance of Jarog dance was obser- ved. The questions of this research were why Jarog dance for children with special needs was performed in the International Dance Day 2013 in Surakarta and how the composition of the performance was. METHOD The data of this research were col- lected by conducting observation, inter- view and documentation. The observati- on was conducted in the rehearsal and in dance the performance. When observing the process, the researcher participated in it because he was part of the dance arran- ging team. By actively participating in the process he could understand the function and the meaning of the movements of the dance. Based on the observation, before the dance was created, an observation on the students’ initial interest and ability was conducted. The students’ talent, inter- est and ability in appreciating art of dance needed to be identified from the first time. After the approach, there were some stu- dents with the hidden talent and interest which needed to be revealed in the form of a dance. Interview was also conducted outsi- de the dance performance. It was done to the trainers, pengrawit and some dancers. The topics which were asked were the movements, the music, the problems in the performance and the supporting and obstructing factors in the activity. From the interview, the meaning and purposes of the activity could be identified; that is to provide good entertainment so that the children can be directed to be independent and responsible. In the data collection, audio visual documentation was needed so that there were no scattered data after the perfor- mance. This was because the dance mo- berlatih dan membiasakan gerak, gendhing mudah yang dihafal, bunyi kendhang dan instrumen tertentu harus lebih keras. Faktor penghambat dari luar antara lain pada saat berlatih menyita banyak waktu belajar, kurangnya perhatian orang tua, kerjasama dengan musik karawitan pendukungnya. Keywords: Jarog; International Dance Day; children with special needs HARMONIA, Volume 13, No. 2 / Desember 2013102 vements were the behavioral expression which could easily change as the time and the place changed. Dance could easily change depending on the temporary spiri- tual need, and therefore a reply was neces- sary to help the analysis. After the data collection, verificati- on and data processing were conducted. Because the data were in the form of be- havior, this research applied narrative descriptive qualitative analysis. The qua- litative approach applied in this research did not use numerical data. This approach did not merely describe, but it was used to find the meanings contained in it (Ratna, 2010: 94). Qualitative method is also called naturalistic method because the research is conducted in the real setting so that the object does not change before and after the research. RESULT AND DISCUSSION The Order of the Performance The performance of Jarog dance started with Jaranan dance performed by 5 female dancers using the properties made of woven bamboo which looked like hor- ses or jaran kepang. Three Special Senior High School students, one Special Junior High School student and 1 Special Elemen- tary School students. Although they were mute and deaf, they had an initial strategy by looking at the kendhang player beating the kendhang bem (the big one) by waving hands. The tempo when they were dan- cing was relatively constant from the be- ginning to the end. In the performance of Jaranan Reog dance, if a dancer looked at a wrong direction so that he/she could not look at the kendhang player, he/she would fell the vibration of the bass sound from the effect of the kendhang beats. The similar thing was also done by other dancers. Kendhang player as pamurba irama (the one who controls the tempo) must carefully follow the tempo of the dancers who sometimes missed one beat, so that everything became different. This was done in order to keep the movement in tune with the music. The movement chan- ge must often be followed by the musi- cians. It was necessary to know that some musicians were also children with special needs except the kendhang player, who was the teacher. After Jaranan dancers finished, 4 male dancers called Ganong started to dance. Ganong dancers wore Bujangan- ong masks like the ones in Reog. The folk dance movement choice using gecul (fun- ny) vocabularies made the atmosphere of the performance fresh. The attractive mo- vements such as somersaults, headstand/ handstand, bridge pose and lifting other dancers made the audience laughed. The togetherness of the Ganong dancers was the symbol of harmony in interacting using gesture. The last performance was Barongan Dhadhak Merak. The lash of the well-arran- ged peacock feathers on the top of the big tiger head mask was designed like a hi- biscus leaf. The splendor of the mask was brought by a dancer by biting the inner part of the mask. The dancer sometimes stretched his arms to show the power of his teeth to lift Barongan Dhadhak Merak, in- dicating that Jarog was very unique. It was not the magic which influenced the power of the dancer. It was because he was well- trained. Bending, wagging and spinning on the ground were not easy to do, but the balance in lifting the mask must be felt carefully by the Barongan Dhadhak Merak dancer. The performance ended when Ba- rongan Dhadhak Merak had saluted or bo- wed to the audience and all dancers came out to salute them. The Elements of Jaranan Reog (Jarog) Per- formance The main elements of Jaranan Reog dance were: movements, floor pattern, makeup and wardrobe and accompanying music. 1. Movements The movements were chosen based on the style of Surakarta. The performance used more fantasy movements of hor- ses and their riders. Such movements Eko Wahyu, Jarog Dance for Children with Special Needs 103 were chosen to attract the passion to play with imagination according to their age, in which they imitated things they saw. The characteristics of horse movement with energic leaping move- ment made the performance merrier. Despite the horse movement which was often associated with the gallant movement of cowboy, the dancers sho- wed their characteristics as coquettish and attractive young girls. The folk dance movements which were simple, easy to understand and to do and rela- ted to the natural movements in daily life made the dancers look enchanting although they were actually disabled. 2. Floor Pattern The steps which were in accordance with the rhythm of gamelan made the dancers’ floor pattern change from a spot to another. The shift of position when they were dancing was adapted to the choice of the mo- vement vocabularies. Thus, the mo- vement shift seemed to be done unin- tentionally to form a line formation. Some formations which were done were semicircle, circle, V letter, dia- gonal, straight and groups of 2 and 3 dancers. The stage layout used for the folk dance was a yard in which the dancers were in the same place as the audience. 3. Makeup and wardrobe The makeup used was beautiful ma- keup style. This makeup was used especially for Jaranan dancers so that they looked beautiful. Special makeup for the dancers was applied by app- lying white face powder, thickening nad blackening the eyebrows, applying blush-on to the cheeks and lengthening sideboards. The makeup was applied by thickening facial lines using the cos- metics for stage quality. Other dancers wore masks, including Ganong and Dadhak merak. The wardrobe of Jarog was different from Reog. There was a change on the way of wearing the costumes and the color choice. The costumes worn by Jaranan dancer were red shirts and pants and headband using clothing like the one worn by ancient soldiers. Ganong wore masks, red and white striped shirts with supit urang model completed with belts and epek timang (buckle). The choice of costumes was based on the cultural style of Surakar- ta. Dhadhak Merak wore a tiger mask with peacock feather decoration to co- ver his face, a white shirt, black oants, striped clothing and binggel with klin- ting (look at Figure 1). 4. Music Music which accompanying the per- formance of Jarog dance was a set of Javanese gamelan with titi laras Pelog. In Jarog, music was used not only as accompaniment but also as an inspi- ration for the dance arrangement to be adapted to the available music tempo. The patterns of the kendhang beats fol- lowed (mematut) the dance movements so that they become a strong unity (mungkus). Gendhing used in Jarog dan- ce were the following: a) Lelagon Jaranan to accompany Jara- nan dance. Lelagon Jaranan laras pe- log gave an impression of fantasy to the children as the dancers so that they could achieve the characteris- tics of horsemen. b) Kendhang gecul to accompany Gan- ong dance. The amusing beats of kendhang led the dancers to perform with unique and funny movement vocabularies. c) Ponoragan to accompany Barongan Dhadhak Merak. The choice of to- nes which was limited resulted in a magical but monotonous athosphe- re so that it could support the per- formance of the grim and terrible dance property. Description of the the Characters’ Move- ments in Jarog The Movements of Jaranan Dancers HARMONIA, Volume 13, No. 2 / Desember 2013104 Figure 1. The Performance of Jaranan Dancers, Ganong and Dhadhak Merak (Photo : Eko W. Collection) 6. Lembehan sampur, geol, and the dancers performed nyongklang again. 7. Ukel karno, ngeber, nyongklang. The Movements of Ganong 1. Spinning Onclang, ndhodhog, jengkeng 2. Sembahan sigeg 3. Cumpli 4. Bridge (attractive movement) 5. Somersaults (attractive movement) 6. Jenggli (attractive movement) 7. Srampangan (attractive movement) The Movements of Barongan Dhadhak Merak 1. Spinning Lumaksono, ndhodhog, jeng- keng 2. Sembahan sigeg 3. Usap jenggot 4. Cakaran 5. Spinning Ddhakuran towards the ba- rongan 6. Ngolet mlaku rengkap 7. Kebat 8. Merak kasimpir 1. Jaranan dancers performed the dance by riding horses (nyongklang), formed a circle in the center of the stage and then formed a V formation with kebyok sampur kiri kalang kinantang movement. At the count of four, they took turn on performing kebyok sampur kanan, which was done four times and then perfor- med nyongklang again and circled to the right. 2. Laku telu wolak-walik was done four ti- mes. After that, banting jaran was per- formed and the dancers performed ny- ongklang again. 3. Ulat-ulat nibani was done four times. After that, banting jaran was performed and the dancers performed nyongklang again. 4. Pandir was done four times. After that, banting jaran was performed and the dancers performed nyongklang again. 5. Kebyokan sampur was done four times. After that, banting jaran was performed and the dancers performed nyongklang again. Eko Wahyu, Jarog Dance for Children with Special Needs 105 9. Kekipu The Choice of Gendhing The first gendhing or karawitan mu- sic performance was in the form of lancaran with a song entitled Jaranan, which could inspire the horse dancers. The notation of the selected gendhing could be considered easy to be played by the pengrawit who consisted of children with special needs. The beats with staccato tempo at- tracted the dancers to perform pounding movements. In order to guide the dancers, a kendhang player beat the kendhang bem harder before the gong and wave his hand highly. In every verse of the accompanied song, the pattern of the beat of kendhang was performed for nyongklang movement as a strategy for children with special needs, for it was easy for both the dancers and the pengrawit. The song lyrics or cakepan tembang of Jaranan were the following. 1. Jaranan, jaranan, jarane jaran Teji sing numpak ndoro Bei, sing ngiring para Mantri jeg, jeg, nong, jeg jeg gung jeg, jeg gedebug krincing gedebug krincing- gedebug krincing jeg, jeg gedebug jedher (Rahardjo, 2006: 33). 2. Jaranan, jaranan, jarane jaran Bopong sing numpak para Pamong, sing ngiring Semar Bagong jeg, jeg, nong, jeg jeg gung jeg, jeg gedebug krincing gedebug krincing- gedebug krincing jeg, jeg gedebug jedher 3. Jaranan, jaranan, jarane jaran Kore sing numpak Kanca dhewe, sing ngiring Leda-lede jeg, jeg, nong, jeg jeg gung jeg, jeg gedebug krincing gedebug krincing- gedebug krincing jeg, jeg gedebug jedher 4. Jaranan, jaranan, jarane jaran Kentrung sing numpak aji mumpung, sing ngiring mung ngalenthung jeg, jeg, nong, jeg jeg gung jeg, jeg gedebug krincing gedebug krincing- gedebug krincing jeg, jeg gedebug jedher 5. Jaranan, jaranan, jarane jaran Kombor sing numpak Pakdhe Bedor, sing ngiring gleyar-gleyor jeg, jeg, nong, jeg jeg gung jeg, jeg gedebug krincing gedebug krincing- gedebug krincing jeg, jeg gedebug jedher (Rahardjo, 2006: 33). The notation of Jarog accom- paniment can be look at Figure 2. The Notation returned to Ponoragan for Dhadhak Merak dance, attractive mo- vements and Perangan. The Supporting and Obstructing Factors in Jarog Dance Performance Based on the analysis, there were two supporting factors, namely internal and external ones. 1. The internal supporting factors came from the surroundings of the artists a. Great motivation was raised among the students with the talent in dan- cing. The Jarog performance for ce- lebrating the International Dance Day 2013 involved the participation of many people. There were at least 12 students with special needs who became the dancers, 15 students as pengrawit 1 teacher became the kendhang player, a trainer, a vo- calist, some people who prepared the properties, equipment and eve- rything related to the performance such as Dhadhak merak, transpor- tation and other supporting stuff. Everyone involved in the perfor- mance felt that they were called to succeed the celebration of the Inter- national Dance Day 2013 in Sura- karta. b. The Jarog dance performance beca- me the identification, which means the tendency to feel that they were other people and felt what others felt. The Jarog dance performance HARMONIA, Volume 13, No. 2 / Desember 2013106 had educational values and it was recognized by foreign society as a result of education conducted by the teacher and the trainer to make edu- cation delightful and interesting, a way which was not conducted to ot- her students and attracted others to watch it. The Jarog dance was cho- sen because it was suitable for the students’ ability and the taste of the society so that it could become good entertainment. In art, the most im- portant thing is that the performers feel happy and the people enjo- The Notation of Jarog Accompaniment Lelagon Jaranan . 2 3 5 . 6 5 3 1 2 3 . 5 3 2 g1 . 1 1 1 1 5 6 1 . 1 1 1 6 5 4 g5 . 6 6 5 . 6 6 5 1 . 1 . 5 3 2 g1 . 2 3 1 . 2 3 1 5 . 5 1 2 3 2 g1 Tembang/Vocal . 2 3 5 . 6 5 3 1 2 3 . 5 3 2 g1 Ja- ra- nan, ja- ra- nan ja- ra- ne ja- ran te- ji Ja- ra- nan, ja- ra- nan ja- ra- ne ja- ran bo-pong . 1 1 1 1 5 6 1 . 1 1 1 6 5 4 g5 Sing numpak nda- ra be- i sing ngiring pa- ra man-tri Sing numpak nda- ra pa-mong sing ngiring se- mar ba- gong . 6 6 5 . 6 6 5 1 . 1 1 5 3 2 g1 jrek-jrek nong jrek- jrek nong, jrek- jrek ge- deb- ug krincing jrek-jrek nong jrek- jrek nong, jrek- jrek ge- deb- ug glenthong b1b b2 3 2 1 1b b2 3 2 1 5 . 5 1 2 3 2 g1 ge-de- bug krincing ge-de- bug krin-cing, jrek- jrek ge- de- bug krincing ge-de- bug glenthong ge-de- bug glenthong, jrek- jrek ge- de- bug glenthong Ponoragan IDDD g 5 2 5 2 5 2 5 g2 repeated more than 3 times Kendhangan gecul Ganong J I J D J N J . repeated 3 times bDbI J . B . B . . Vocal Kendhangan gecul Ganong b.b b3 b5b b 5 b3b b 5 6 . b3b b6 b6bbb b b3 b5b b 6 1 Ke- plok a- me a- me be- la- lang ku-pu kupu .b b3 b5b b 5 b3b b 5 6 b3b b3 b5b b b6 b1b b1 b1b b1 Si- ang ma- kan na- si ka- lau malam minum su-su Figure 2. The Notation of Jarog Accompaniment with Lelagon (introdution) and Kendhangan (coda) Eko Wahyu, Jarog Dance for Children with Special Needs 107 ying the performance feel the same thing. People felt that they realized that Jarog dance was important in celebrating the International Dance Day. c. Sympathy, a process in which so- meone feels interested in other party’s behavior and appearance. The dancers were all the students with special needs, while the pen- grawit were also the students, ex- cept the kendhang player, who was the teacher or the trainer so that he understood the dancers’ charac- teristics and was able to adapt to the nvironment. d. The audience was not limited to the local people, either male or female, and old or young.some audience were also students and citizens so that this condition increased the spirit to learn more intensely. 2. External Factors a. The Influence of the World’s Recog- nition The society was satisfied when they could participate in the celebration of the International Dance Day sin- ce they felt that they contributed to the development of dances. Dan- ces become the world’s property so that the art lovers feel that they own their identity. b. The Influence of the Motto “Solo Ber- seri” Surakarta was considered as the center of culture so that there was an impression that the citizens of the city participated in preserving dan- ces. It was an honor for the students that they could participate in the de- velopment of culture in this city. c. The Influence of the Development of Technology The Jarog dance performance beca- me a favorite thing for many people especially the dancers, performers and other participants from the so- ciety itself. Ceremonial entertain- ment is always related to the norms and ethics of the society. Politeness, simplicity, sincerity and harmonu become the guides to preserve the nature and the human in order to make everyone happy. There are many kinds of generally attractive entertainment, but dance perfor- mances are still considered to be able to convey messages about the hope and the desire of the society. Dance performances will be supported by the technology for recording them so that the documentation can be used for learning independently through audio visual media. The Obstructing Factors of the Jarog Dance Performance 1. Internal factors which obstructed the harmony of Jarog dance a. The difficulty in practicing and get- ting used to the movements faced by the students with special needs was the challenge which demanded teacher’s and trainer’s creativity. The process which was needed was lon- ger than that for teaching dances for normal children. b. The pengrawit who were mostly also children with special needs must be given gendhing which was easy to re- member and in accordance with the dance movements, which was some- times late. The teacher as the kend- hang player must always follow the movements so that there was a har- mony. c. The beat of kendhang and certain instruments had to be louder so that it could be heard by the dancers. The- refore, the music seemed strange and funny. The gestures of the kendhang player and the loud beat sometimes had to be done so that the dancers could see and adapt to the rhythm. 2. The External Factors which obstructed the Jarog dance performance a. The rehearsal reduced the study hours in other classes, since the dan- cers and pengrawit were selected HARMONIA, Volume 13, No. 2 / Desember 2013108 from various classes with different schedules. b. The lack of attention from some of the parents towards the dance edu- cation, so that special treatment had to be done by the teacher in teaching the students. c. The lack of electronic equipment for the rehearsal so that it had to be done with the accompaniment of karawi- tan music. CONCLUSION The International Dance Day is ce- lebrated every year in Surakarta, invol- ving many studios and dance training in- stitutions. Jarog dance is a newly created folk dance with Surakarta style created for children with special needs. The dancers and pengrawit are the children with intel- lectual disability and physical disabilities such as muteness and deafness. Jarog dance functions as character education, entertainment, identity and spirit booster for children to be more con- fident to perform in front of the public. The dance is also the identity of the students with special needs. The dance was invol- ved in the celebration of the International Dance Day in Institut Seni Indonesia (In- donesian Art Institute) in Surakarta. The sequence of Jarog dance was ar- ranged according to the levels of intelli- gence of the children. It was categorized into three parts: Jaranan came first with the accompaniment of gendhing dolanan laras pelog with the children vocal song entitled Jaranan, followed by Ganong dance which performed humorous light acrobatic mo- vements and Dhadhak Merak dance with the accompaniment of gendhing Ponora- gan. The movements tended to be funny in slower tempo so that the pengrawit had to direct the dancers by highly raising hands in order to make it easier for them to see it. The participation of dance in the Interna- tional Dance Day celebration in Surakarta raised the confidence and spirit for lear- ning arts. Persistent teacher and special techni- ques for giving signals using loud kend- hang beats and hand signals in the mo- vement transitions were needed in the learning process. The lively music from Gamelan instruments were also needed as the accompaniment. There were many supporting factors as well as the obstruc- ting ones in the dance performance, either internally or externally. The internal sup- porting factors were motivation, identifi- cation, sympathy and audence’s interest. The external supporting factors were the influence of the world recognition, the motto”Solo Berseri”, and the development of technology. The obstructing internal fac- tors were the difficulties in practicing and adapting the movement, gendhing which was memorized easily, the beats of kend- hang and other instruments which should have been louder. The external obstructing factors were the time-consuming rehear- sal which interfered the children’s study hours, less attention from their parents, and the poor cooperation with the suppor- ting karawitan musicians. REFERENCES Sedyawati, E. 1984 Tari: Tinjauan dari Berb- agai Segi. Jakarta: Pustaka Jaya. Raharjo, E. 2007. Musik sebagai Media Terapi. Harmonia Jurnal Pengetahuan dan Pemikiran Seni. Vol. 8 No. 1 Hal. 55-62. Jakob, S. 2000. Filsafat Seni. Bandung: Inti- tut Teknologi Bandung. Jazuli, M. 2011. Sosiologi Seni. Surakarta : Sebelas Maret University. Ratna, K. 2010. Metodologi Penelitian Kajian Budaya dan Ilmu Sosial Humaniora pada Umumnya. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. Horton, P. & Chester L. H. 1993. Sosiologi. Terjemahan Syamsudin Ram. Jakar- ta: Erlangga. Raharjo, S. (editor). 2006. Lagu anak-anak untuk TK dan SD. Semarang: IKIP PGRI Semarang Press. Soedarsono. 1999. Seni Pertunjukan dan Pariwisata . Yogyakarta: ISI. Hadi, S. 2005. Sosiologi Tari: Sebuah Penge- Eko Wahyu, Jarog Dance for Children with Special Needs 109 nalan Awal. Yogyakarta: Pustaka. Puspasutardjo, S. 2002. Seni dalam Pendidi- kan. Naskah Seminar International Seri “Indignasi Seni pertunjukan dan Ilmu Pengetahuan”. Surakarta: ISI.