Traditional dances and cultural arts are the window into a nation's soul. Rooted from our ancestors, these traditions are kept alive through generations, preserving our culture. As the younger generation, it is our duty to preserve and broaden the reach of Indonesian culture and performance art. Through performances, education, and active participation, these traditions are hoped to continue to inspire future generations to carry these legacies forward. Reny Ajeng is the co-founder of Omah Wulangreh or Wulangreh Omah Budaya, an informal art and culture institution or sanggar—a school outside school, said Reny—a modest home to study art and culture with the foundation of tradition.
Reny grew up in a family that’s close with performance art, having her mother once a dancer and her grandfather a gamelan player. Reny’s passion for traditional dancing started when she was 5 years old. In school, she always pursued dancing through extracurricular activities. After graduating high school, Reny went to a university in Jogja and joined a West Kalimantan dance group (sanggar). Moved to Jakarta after obtaining her degree, she worked professionally as a traditional dancer while still keeping her 9 to 5 job.
It was until 2017 when Reny and her husband started with their first workshop of ancient javanese scripture for fun after seeing people interested in the ancient script written in their tiny coffee shop. The workshop developed to javanese dance workshops and expanded to other traditional dances. In 2018, Reny and her husband created Omah Wulangreh, derived from the Javenese word “Piwulang,” meaning teaching, and “Reh,” meaning road. They started from 4 students to now around 500 students, having high demands for their classes with a total of 30 classes varying from traditional Javanese dance, Balinese dance, to Gamelan Bali and Kalimantan dance. Reny now fully dedicates her time for the community with her husband.
Reaching success before the age of 40, Reny shared that many are still in disbelief of her and her husband creating Omah Wulangreh by themselves. Mainly because Omah Wulangreh stood without a prominent figure in the industry at its back. But that is what encapsulates Omah Wulangreh and sets it apart from the others. Starting from nothing, they created Omah Wulangreh in the hope to serve as a hub that is accessible for people to collaborate with each other. The matter of fact is that many of the institutions are still old-fashioned and exclusive.
Meanwhile, the community at Omah Wulangreh came from different backgrounds and ages, starting from 20 years old to 68 years old. 95% of the people here aren’t professional artists, said Reny, but they’re all here profesional in their own respective industry. Because of that, the community is more open-minded to collaboration and new ideas. It creates a sense of belonging within its community. During the pandemic, the institution transformed from conventional to online classes and resulted in a surge of interest from inside and outside the country. It welcomes modern ideation while still keeping tradition at its core, inviting more young generations to join and simply get to know their own culture.
“Omah Wulangreh in everyday life is like a plate. On the plate, there are various side-dishes such as rice, and so on. We (Omah Wulangreh) is the container (that holds it all together).”
One Of Reny's fulfilling moments throughout her journey is Omah Wulangreh's annual end-of-the-year performance called “Gugur Gunung.” Gugur Gunung is a Javanese term that means gotong royong—an Indonesian term that means work together. The name exactly describes how the community works to make the show a success. From the dancers to the show director, it is a social work of everyone involved sharing the same passion and love for art and culture. Now in its third year from its first show in 2022, Reny and her husband work through its ups and downs and are reminded of how much they love doing this.
Q: Hopes for the traditional dance industry in Indonesia?
A: “Traditional arts, traditional performances, and cultural arts, can be on the same level with the entertainment industry in general.”
Reny explains that until now, the traditional performing art industry still receives minimal support from the government. The support given is often misdirected and or unevenly distributed, leaving many deserving institutions or groups overlooked. To be on the same level with the entertainment industry in general, Reny realized, needs collective work. Achieving this can’t be done alone and it is a struggle, says Reny. Another thing Reny hopes for the industry is how to monetize it. Many are still depending on sponsorships.
What she does to overcome this problem is by following the system in the music industry for her shows. That means by treating the artists and dancers not as a one-man show, but as a team with management and marketing fee, and a road man. Continuing their journey, Reny and her husband aim to bring traditional dance performance into showbiz and make the industry more sustainable. Allowing Indonesia’s traditional performance art and culture to strive as a viable industry.
