Eko Supriyanto’s ‘SALT’ coming to Australia

SALT by Eko SupriyantoAfter the international success of Cry Jailolo and Balabala (both created with youths of Jailolo in North Maluku and presented by Asia TOPA), Eko Supriyanto turns his gaze inwards with a new solo work.

 

A pioneering choreographer with a new voice in Indonesian contemporary dance, Eko engages in a web of relations between his Javanese heritage and the rhythm of the underwater world – a world without gravity where new perspectives emerge.

 

Drawing from his classical dance training, his diving experience and the Javanese agricultural tradition of carving in the ground, SALT takes the forms of Jatilan (Magelang folk trance dance) and Cakelele (war dance from North Maluku) and places them within the state of weightlessness.

 

Propelled by the experience of diving beneath the surface, SALT address the rhythm and force of the ocean, which makes up 80% of the Indonesian archipelago. Beneath the surface power relations and identities are levelled.

 

In SALT, Eko plunges into a state of anti-gravity beneath the ocean surface, a dance that addresses embedded cultural hierarchies and changing perspectives. He unravels his roots and vocabulary as a classically trained dancer that is tied to dominant Javanese agricultural history. He asks if it’s possible for the gaze to suspend all projected perceptions.



Straight off the back of its world premiere at deSingel in Belgium on October 14, SALT will have its Australian premiere at Dancehouse on November 3 and 4, ahead of debuting on Indonesian soil at Salihara later in November.

 

Eko believes “the future of dance lies underwater.” Come see why in the Sylvia Staehli Theatre at Dancehouse. Visit www.dancehouse.com.au for more performance details.

 

Learn more about EkosDance Company at www.ekosdancecompany.com.

 

Photo: Eko Supriyanto for SALT. Photo by David Fajar.