Beckett Theatre, Melbourne, October
"Hip-hop was born in Papua. You don’t have to believe me. But my great-grandmother told me." So says Jecko Siompo, Indonesian dancer and choreographer of We Came From The East, a collaboration between JeckosDANCE, the Goethe-Institut, Kampagnagel Hamburg, Hebbel-am-Ufer Berline and The Esplanade Singapore, performed as part of the Melbourne Festival.
Dubbed “Animal Pop”, Siompo’s choreography is a blend of crouched tribal movements (complete with unintelligible yelping and shrieking from the dancers); animal mimickry (dancers lying on their backs with legs and arms flailing above them, like upturned beetles; dancers forming a human caterpillar; dancers jumping all over each other like excited monkeys) for the first half of the work; and upright urban street moves for the second half - with trace elements of traditional Thai, Latin American (namely Salsa), Hindu Natya dance, and light as a feather boxing footwork. The “Robot’”even makes an appearance.
The piece begins with a lone figure in full tribal gear - feathers, body paint, etc, crouching and prowling around the stage, calling out “hello” to the audience ... whose response is somewhat lacklustre. This goes on for a few minutes. Perhaps this could be the first example of Papua’s birth of hip hop – a demonstration of the “call and response” inherent in hip hop music?
The performers - eight Indonesians (Phytoz Harris, Soleman Korwa, Pian Mbeke, Iam Murda, Meitha Nindyasari, Eten Patty, Arisma Ranisa, Ajeng Soelaeman) and two Germans (Jakob Yaw, Karla Zimmermann) exhibit a wonderfully enthusiastic energy. They look like they are genuinely enjoying performing. And one thing is certain – they are working extremely hard. Their bodies are absolutely soaked with perspiration, leaving disconcerting puddles and smeared body paint on the black stage as they writhe around.
The piece ends with all 10 dancers in fluorescent sneakers and bright hoodies, supposedly having made the progression from primitive tribal dancers to full-blown, urban hip hop artists. Visually (and aurally) the transition is not very smooth - the performers spend the first half of the piece crouched close to the floor, then the second half upright, which is the signal to the audience that the transition has been made.
The soundtrack (also by Siompo) is a strange hybrid of noises made by the performers, set against an ever changing backdrop of thunder claps, helicopters, crackling twigs, creaking doors, piano scales, bells, chipmunk voices, telephone operators advising that the number dialled has changed (perhaps this is a veiled indication that the primordial has morphed into modernity?) and odd references to Pinocchio (perhaps this is meant to signal the segue from crouched down tribal movements to upright street moves ... like a puppet being lifted by its strings, moving awkwardly AKA popping and locking as directed by the puppeteer?).
Hip hop’s Papuan lineage is an interesting idea, but the trajectory in We Came From The East is not very clear. There are definitely some questions to be asked of Siompo’s great-grandmother before the audience can suspend their belief!
- ASTRID LAWTON