Kong Ha Hong Keeps Traditional Lion Dance Alive in Jakarta
Jakarta. The yellow lion swirled and twirled in between the crowds at the promenade of Senayan City, Jakarta, that afternoon. Every now and then, it winked to the audience and twerked its tail. Seeing this, its opponent, the red lion, became ferocious and jumped on its back to attack. A traditional Chinese percussion accompanied the performance with loud banging music.
For Chinese New Year this year, Indonesia's award-winning lion dance group Kong Ha Hong will be performing at Senayan City on Sunday, Feb 7, and Monday, Feb 8, from 1 p.m.
"Barongsai [Lion Dance] is very entertaining," said Elsi Adianti, public relations and customer relations assistant manager of Senayan City. "And it's very iconic for Chinese New Year celebrations. We hope to be able to perpetuate the tradition in Indonesia."
The story of Kong Ha Hong dance group was quite awe-inspiring. The group was initially founded in West Jakarta on Aug. 17, 1999 by descendants of the world-famous Chinese martial artist and folk hero, Wong Fei-hung.
"At that time, the Indonesian government once again allowed Indonesian people with Chinese descent to celebrate Lunar New Year and performed Chinese traditions," said Rico Yohanes, co-founder of Kong Ha Hong. "So, my friends and I thought why don't we set up a barongsai group? It's fun, healthy and a good way to re-introduce Chinese traditional art among local communities."
Starting with only eight people in 1999, the group has now grown to 60 members, both Indonesians with Chinese descent and indigenous Indonesians.
"Art is universal," said Rico.
Lion dance, according to Rico, depicts an old Chinese legend of Nian, a mythical sea-beast that terrorized a village in China every year around Lunar New Year. To drive the monster away, the villagers made a percussion orchestra and an effigy in bright colors. Whenever the monster came out from the sea, the villagers played the effigy and made loud noises with the percussion.
The strategy worked. Seeing the effigy and the loud noises it seemed to make, the beast became afraid and left the village. To make sure that the monster would never come back, the villagers perform the ceremony once a year, according to the legend.
Until these days, lion dance is performed during Chinese New Year celebrations by Chinese communities around the world as a symbol of shooing away the bad luck of the previous year and welcoming the bright new year.
By performing lion dance, the Kong Ha Hong group has traveled to many Asian countries and won international accolades. They were the champion of the MGM Lion Dance Championship-Beijing International Invitational 2015 and China Open in 2014 and 2009.
"We're always travelling," said Oktavianus, a member of Kong Ha Hong, after the performance at Senayan City. "It's one of the perks of joining the group."
Oktavianus, now 20-years-old, joined the group when he was nine-years-old.
"We train three times a week for three hours," said Oktavianus.
The training, which is quite rigorous, is a combination of Chinese martial art and gymnastics.
"It keeps me lean, fit and healthy," said Oktavianus, with a smile.
You, too, can join Kong Ha Hong and learn the Chinese lion dance. Their group accepts male and female members between 9 and 30 years old.
If dynamic gymnastics intimidate you, you may learn Chinese percussion instead. The group also offers traditional Chinese music lessons at their headquarters in Pinangsia, West Jakarta.
"All lessons are free-of-charge," said Oktavianus.
To become a member, you can register at their headquarters in Jl. Pinangsia Raya no. 49, Tamansari, West Jakarta. You can also follow their social media accounts @konghahong on Twitter or Kong Ha Hong Indonesia on Facebook.
Tags: Keywords: