Exploring the relationship between women and fabric at Distance Parade

After intensive mentoring and webinars, Distance Parade presented this year’s theme for its exhibition: “Women and Fabric” which will be held on 28-30 November. Distance Parade is a platform initiated by Seni Tari Indonesia to display dance performance videos in order to commence the regeneration process of the dance scene in Indonesia. 

After successfully exploring the limited ranges of motion through the theme “Space” in 2020, Distance Parade this year seeks to explore the relationship and connectedness between women and fabric, and found that fabric is not a mere material for women. Fabric signifies the association of women with social, political, cultural, as well as religious domains.

The event started with a webinar session, “Women and Fabric”, with Aquarini Priyatna (Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Studies, Padjadjaran University) and Myra Diarsi (psychologist). During this session, they also announced the 10 chosen young choreographers from all over the archipelago to make the dance film of this year.

Two months prior to the event, the 10 choreographers underwent intensive training and classes, facilitated and mentored by Adinda Luthvianti (dramaturg), Aline Jusria (movie editor), Hanafi (artist), Heru Joni Putra (dramaturg), Jecko Siompo (choreographer), Melati Suryodarmo (performance artist), Taufik Adam (composer), Wendy Aga (director of photography) and Wregas Bhanuteja (director).

The dance film “Women and Fabric” was released on the first day of the event online via Seni Tari Indonesia’s YouTube channel. Throughout those three days, Distance Parade also showed other works, such as “Delapan jam sebelum ‘aku’” by Ajeng Soelaeman and “Satu Garis Menurun” by Mekratingrum Hapsari.

On the last day, there was a programme called “REST AREA” where the chosen choreographers, mentors, as well as Seni Tari Indonesia took a rest and reviewed their journey as dance artists. This session also invited two observers of the field, Garin Nugroho and Eko Supriyanto.

The recordings of the event can be accessed via Seni Tari Indonesia’s YouTube channel.