As people already know that Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia. A very dense city, full of pollution and a business center. But other than that, Jakarta has a lot of fantastic civilization heritage that you must understand. Their civilization is often called Betawi Culture. Obviously, they have some specialties that the whole world should know about. What exactly is this Betawi culture? Rate them below:
1. Betawi Language
Terminology Betawi is a creole language (Siregar, 2005) which was developed in the Malay Market plus Sundanese, Balinese, South Chinese (Hokkien), European, Arabic, and Portuguese. This language began to spread at the beginning of the growth of the city of Jakarta. The majority were carried away by the slaves and traders. Because it is always developing, there is no clear standard structure that distinguishes it from Malay, but there are some linguistic elements that can be used from it.
2. Tanjidor
Tanjidor belongs to the Betawi conventional music class which is quite well known, the music being played is more or less influenced by Western music. The song Tanjidor is produced by Betawi people who live in Bekasi and Karawang areas. In addition, this is quite strong from the socio-cultural life of the surrounding community.
Tanjidor is a musical outfit whose title was created during the colonial period of the Dutch East Indies. The term “tanjidor” comes from the Portuguese word “tangedor” which means “musical instrument”. Actually, the “tangedor” artwork in Portuguese is somewhat different from the Tanjidor artwork in Betawi society, although the staircase process is a bit diatonic. Tanjidor produced by the Betawi people is dominated by the final instrument.
3. Gambang Kromong
Gambang Kromong is a conventional musical art that combines gamelan instruments from Betawi and musical instruments from China. This classical music art is the final consequence of ethnic acculturation involving Chinese and indigenous cultures. The name xylophone kromong is taken from the names of the two musical instruments, the xylophone and the kromong.
The xylophone is a musical instrument made of special wood that looks good when played. A typical xylophone replica has around 18 bits of varying sizes to produce a variety of tones. Kromong is a musical instrument made of bronze. Shaped like a gamelan instrument in general, the number of kromong itself is generally counted up to ten pieces (ten pencon). Kromong is also a musical instrument that every pencon also has another tone.
4. Yapong Dance
The yapong dance was originally produced by Bagong Kussudiardjo in 1975. This dance is generally performed on the anniversary of the city of Jakarta. At that time, the Department of Culture generally prepared several regional dances from several regions in Indonesia.
Until now this dance is a typical traditional Betawi dance, the tools used in this dance are Rebana Biang, Rebana Ketimpring and Rebana Hadroh. Along with the times, yapong is also a solution to unite conventional and contemporary art into modern art.
5. Betawi Mask Dance
Betawi Mask Dance is a mixed art that combines performing arts, dance and singing. It looks like theatre, but it’s dancing. Just a little confused? Previously, Mask Dance was one of the conventional theatrical performances, but dance components were needed to make it look like it is today.
Amazingly, this dance is recognized and appreciated by countries abroad. You know, you can watch this dance every time there are weddings and festivals. In its growth, this dance will become bigger and more famous all over the world.
6. Sirih Kuning Dance
The title of Sirih Kuning is said to be used in the early days of the standard wedding procession, yellow betel is given to the groom to the bride. This developed into a dance originating from the cokek betawi dance.
This dance generally features a group of male and female dancers. But along with the times, this dance is often performed by children. The audio that accompanies this dance is Gambang Kromong.
7. Lenggang Nyai Dance
This dance is named Lenggang Nyai because it tells the story of Nyai Dasimah. A woman from Jakarta who is confused about choosing a partner between a Dutch man or an indigenous person. She ended up choosing a Dutch man, but during her union, Nyai rebelled because of the rules made by her own husband.
Feeling the girl’s right to be shot, the narrative finally motivated an artist named Wiwiek Widiastuti to leave a dance called Lenggang Nyai Dance. This dance uses Gambang Kromong songs, as well as a reddish costume with jewelry on the head. Did you notice there was a slight hint of Chinese heritage?
Before you plan a trip to Jakarta, be sure to read more about Jakarta and Indonesia by visiting Wonderful Indonesia.
