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Benedictus Suharto,
| A few minutes before midnight, pak Hardiyo (head of Pesu village in Wedi, Klaten) prepared a bowl of water with three different flowers (kembang telon of mawar, kenanga, and kantil) in it, Chinese incense, and a candle on a small desk near the gamelan orchestra. Right at midnight, he lit the candle, burned the incense, and turned off all the electricity. While the music was played, in a gleaming light, pak Ben Suharto improvised. Sometimes his movements were very smooth, at times strong, and at the end he danced as a female character. Pak Ben had a very strong classical dance background. So even though he danced in a contemporary fashion, his movements were enjoyed by even a lay audience. After the performance, pak Hardiyo told his guests that during pak Ben’s performance, he saw five spirits...present among the guests, two of them were thought to be Susuhunan Paku Buwono V and his consort. Pak Djoko Suryanto, one of the guests, agreed and said that he, too, saw the spirits. He even described in great detail how they dressed. “But I did not see anything like what both gentlemen had seen,” Saptono added. The success of these performances, Ben, were no longer measured by how esthetically they impressed an audience. It was how your dancing had transformed the congregation (or believers), how you had given them a mystico-religious experience, enabling them to have a vision of meeting with the spirit of Susuhunan Paku Buwono V. Being a passive participant, a non-believer, Saptono “failed to hear his own voices.” He was unable to enter a state of emptiness or nothingness because he could not accept what he experienced without questions. Ben, this doesn’t mean that I question your skill as a master dancer. Last year on June 17th, to celebrate the retirement of Mas Kayam,(7) I was told that you performed an improvisation with Sardono W. Kusumo at Purna Budaya, Yogyakarta. You danced as Sumantri and Sardono as Harjunasasrabahu, both in refined male mode, but you did it in Yogyakarta style while Sardono in Surakarta style. Both of you did not wear a complete wayang wong costume, but a simple Javanese kain batik with a batik iket headdress.(8) I venture to guess that you used your mataya concept in your dancing. But, as he told me, Sardono did not, even though, I would imagine, his dancing was as intense as yours was. When Sasrabahu was defeated, with no change of costumes Sardono “transformed” himself into a ferocious “giant” dancing in a forceful male style. Later, you acted as Harjunasasrabahu (in refined mode, Yogyakarta style) and Sardono as the ogre king Rahwana (in forceful mode, Surakarta style) in which Sasrabahu was defeated by Rahwana. This performance was remembered by many as the best dance performance in 1997 in Yogyakarta. It is not hard for me to believe and imagine, because both you and Sardono were among the best Javanese dancers we had in 1997. The following month on July 11th and 12th, I was invited to participate in the seminar to celebrate the same event: to bid farewell to Mas Kayam. As you remembered Ben, during the dinner part at Mas Kayam’s house, I begged you to dance an improvisation for the Triangle Art Program (TAP) members who would visit Yogyakarta. On September 13th, 1997, on the way to meet the TAP group of dancer-choreographers, enablers, and managers from Indonesia, Japan and the United States in Denpasar, I stopped in Yogyakarta to meet you. You said that you were ready to organize an exchange-workshop with the TAP members. It was only at that time Ben, that I knew you had a problem with your health. I realized wherever you went you always brought a special cushion–a vespa tire—to sit on. Enthusiastically, you told me about your latest “healing” workshop in the United Kingdom during which–using your mataya method–you could make the rain fall. Energetically you also told me how before leaving for England you managed to heal a son of your staff who was seriously ill. Despite these achievements, though, you acknowledged that you were not successful yet in healing your own illness. And I told you, that it was time for you to consult a specialist. The following day, I left for Denpasar, returning to Yogyakarta on September 23rd with the TAP members as we had arranged. That afternoon, we went to the ISI campus to meet you. You showed us a beautiful Srimpi rehearsal but the contemporary work by one of your students was not too impressive.(8a) For that reason you came forward to do a five-minute improvisation on the fight between an eagle and a baby lamb in a sitting position. Ben, this was a beautiful and memorable short improvisation. Seeing you dance in a sitting position with painful expression on your face convinced me that your were seriously ill. On October 27, 1997, I was ready to leave for Taipei to teach at the National Institute for the Arts when Endo Suanda, Jenny Lindsay, and Widaryanto faxed me an announcement on the seriousness of your rectal cancer. In Jakarta, we tried our best to help you go to Singapore for medication. But, it seemed every effort was already too late. In Taipei, on December 27th, my daughter Ajeng called from Jakarta telling me that you passed away. A great shock! “What was created by God must return to God.” I shared the bad news with Endang. For a moment there was only silence. We were unable to say a word. Tears dropped from our eyes. So did I cry in writing this letter Ben. It is hard to believe that things change so fast. I never thought that our meeting in September would turn out to be our last encounter. Ben, I whole-heartedly wish you could still enjoy reading this letter. Rest in peace! With deep respect and warm regards, Sal Murgiyanto Denpasar, Indonesia 30 August 1998 |