Medium is a deeply personal portrait of Rianto the dancer. Featuring himself and Javanese musician Cahwati on a bare stage, the piece goes to the roots of Indonesian traditional dance and music, exploring nature, spirituality and ritual with a stark minimalism. Rianto, who dances barefoot with trance-like concentration, moves from controlled, hypnotic movements to frenzied shaking. In his body, we see a fluid amalgamation which has stored movements from contemporary dance, classical Javanese dance and lengger, a traditional cross-gender dance from Central Java, in which he has trained since young. Accompanying him, alternating between roles as partner, lover, friend and mother, is Cahwati, who plays a variety of instruments and contributes live vocals.
Choreographer + Dancer: Yasuhiro Morinaga
Dramaturg: Garin Nugroho, Tang Fu Kuen
Scenography + Lighting Design: Iskandar K.Loedin
Vocals+Percussion: Cahwati
Sound Design: Yasuhiro Morinaga
Music Credits
Violin: Natsume Saiki
Bansuri/Kaval: Taro terahara
Sho: Jumpei Ohtsuka
Flute: Etsuko Miyakawa
Costume: Retno Damayanti
Production Co-ordinator: Putri Pramesti Wigaringtyas
Producer: Jala Adolphus
Co-commissioned by: Esplanade, Performance Space (Sydney), National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, deSingel Internationale Kunstcampus, and Staatstheater Darmstadt
Supported by: Kommunitas Salihara and Darwin Festival