TRADITIONAL DANCE ROEG PONOROGO

Performed by :SINGO LODOYO USA
Washington DC,USA

The dance known as Reog is a very spectacular dance with several dancers wearing bright colorful costumes accompanied by merry gamelan music.


It is always played in the open terrain, such as in a square, street etc. This dance which always draws a lot of spectators is a traditional art dance combined with magical show or a trance dance.

History:

According to history the Reog dance originated from the glorious era of the Kediri kingdom around the l5th century. Reog was one of the cultural art that came from East Java esspecially coming from Ponorogo was called Wengker, the seat of the kingdom of Bentarangin (now the area of subdistrict Sumoroto) under King Kelana Sewandono. He had a governor, Pujangga Anom (in the Reog dance called Bujangganong). One night Kelana Sewandono  was dreamed meeting a beautiful princess of kediri kingdom,Dewi Ragil Kuning/ Songgolangit . He feel falling in love with her and ordered his governor to ask the hand of the princess.
The performance re-enacts a legendary battle between Pujangga Anom, a minister from the court of Ponorogo, and Singa Barong, guardian spirit of the forest of Lodoyo. The former had aroused the anger of Singa Barong when he stole 150 tigers from the forest, apparently to be offered as a dowry payment for a princess of Kediri, whom the king of Ponorogo wished to marry.

The flow of story of Reog Ponorogo performing is Warok, and then Jatilan, Bujangganong, Kelana Sewandana, and then Barongan or Dadak Merak at the end. When one of that part is happen, another parts are also following dance, even it is not dominant. The dance itself has a several combination with two or three opening dance.

The first dance performing by six or eight man in the black dress, with the face make up by red color. The dancer illustrated as a brave Lion. The next is a dance performing by six or eight woman by riding a horse is called Jathilan.

Next followed is Bujangganong, a governor under the rule of King Kelana Sewandono. He is a hero with a bad face, bearing a mask with a red, long nose, untidy hair and tusked teeth is an acrobatic dancer. Then King Kelono Sewandono wearing a mask and a crown is a stylish dancer.

The last scene is Singa Barong, where the dancer used a mask of lion head with a crown made by peacock feather. The weight of mask itself is around 50-60 kg. This heavy mask bring by the dancer by using his teeth. This happen through a routine hard practice, it also believes by doing a spiritual practice asceticism and fasting.
The total number of a Reog team is between 20 and 40 members,The success of a performance, including the ability of the principal dancer to bear the weight of the mask, is said to depend upon the magical power of the leader of the dance troupe. Known as warok, these men are believed to possess special talents, gained through years of training. One of the unique features of the reog dance is that the hobby horse (jaran kepang) dancers.