Many Indonesian culture show have been performed and appreciated in various countries. Taking part in promoting the Indonesian culture, Sentakamudya as one of one of the Student Activity Units (UKM) of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) focusing on the art of dance and karawitan will perform Indonesian’s art and culture at the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) for the Republic of Chile.
There are five delegates of UMY comprising of four UMY students, namely Mia Claudia, Diah Safitri, Laili Prabaningtyas and Inggar Bagus Wibisana, as well as a supervisor of Sentakamudya Bambang Wahyu Nugroho, S.IP, M.A.
In his speech on Tuesday (22/8) at Lobby of Rectorate Rector of UMY Dr. Ir. Gunawan Budiyanto, M.P. believed that the delegates will also become cultural diplomacy agents for Indonesia besides presenting cultural performances in Chile. “Show our culture as well as possible because all of you are Indonesian ambassadors in the other country” motivated Gunawan.
The departure of Sentakamudya is also a follow-up to the agreement made last year by Former Vice Rector for Student and Alumni Affairs with the Indonesian Embassy in Chile. “The agreement was later taken over by Vice Rector IV Hilman Latief, Ph.D. who then asked Sentakamudya to prepare themselves because they were invited to assist the embassy to promote Indonesian culture in Chile. This occasion is also to commemorate the 72nd Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia,” said Bambang who also acted as the official of the delegation.
“Sentakamudya will perform dance and traditional songs and we have done the preparation since July. First, three students will show Golek Ayun Ayun, a traditional dance telling a girl who like putting on makeup. Next, Inggar will perform Keroncong music that the title of the song is Gambang Semarang. Also, I will sing two songs that the first is Indonesia Pusaka as the anniversary song of the Republic of Indonesia and the second is the re-arrangement of the song Lir Ilir with the composition of rap music that will be accompanied by Angklung. Here, foreigners can participate in playing traditional musical instruments of Indonesia,” explained Bambang.
“In the final performance, Sentakamudya will show Aswatama Darpa. It is a dance that is accompanied by audio that tells Prince Diponegoro in preparing his horse of pride. The dance is the creation of Kak Arman, the coach of Sentakamudya. He composed the dance, music, and dialogue in the dance. Furthermore, we also use this opportunity to promote UMY to the local university with the help of the Embassy,” he continued.
The Indonesian’s art and culture performance will be held five times in 3 major cities of Chile. “We will perform in the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile, then proceed in Valdivia and Concepción and we back to Santiago to perform two more performances. Interest of the Chilean audience is very high. The Embassy told that a room with a capacity of 600 people for the performance is already fully booked,” informed Bambang.
Bambang expected that with this chance Sentakamudya is able to improve its quality. “I think many of new students have a great interest in the culture. Those who have a willingness to explore their interests can be guided in Sentakamudya, so that the UKM itself can regenerate their members and improve its qualities. Indeed, the world interest in Indonesian culture is also quite huge. I got information from one of my colleagues in Bulgaria that they are very concerned for the art of Indonesian culture. I wish Sentakamudya could also perform there later,” said Bambang.
