Klungkung, Ancient Kingdoms

Sutiarini
The Pioneer of a Female Gamelan Orchestra Troupe

Whilst men play gamelan, Balinese women dance. That’s the common image of art and performance in Bali. In the past, women seldom played the gamelan, but today it is commonplace. Nowadays there are many female sekaa gong (gamelan orchestra troupe). The first one in Bali is Gili Semara Jaya, founded on Lembongan Island, a part of Penida Island, Klungkung. This troupe was established in 1985. The founder, Luh Sutiarini, a mother born in Lembongan on 9 October 1969, recounts its story.

It was in 1982, when school girls of our elementary school including myself, played in the bale banjar (village hall). Here there was a set of gamelans. This gamelan became the starting point of their playing. Firstly, the schoolgirls played it just for fun, and just as they felt, without a clear and patterned tone; in the long run, it began to follow a certain style.
This fact drove I Wayan Legi, a teacher of elementary school at Lembongan, to gather the schoolgirls to form a sekaa or troupe, he first sekaa had six participants. This number then increased to 37 participants, practicing to play the gamelan intensively.
In the course of ten days, the troupe was already able to play as a lelambatan orchestra, a musicale with slow rhythm. Exercises were done every night after studying around 7.30. In addition, the troupe often performed to accompany Balinese dances, calling themselves Gili Semara Jaya.
The then regent of Klungkung, Tjok Gede Agung, heard this female troupe performing, and invited them to perform at the anniversary women’s association PKK or Dharma Wanita in the Klungkung regency.
The “Gili Semara Jaya troupe is noted as the first female sekaa gong in Bali that was founded in 1985,” Sutiarini said.
Most members of this troupe are close relatives of Sutiarini. In terms of genealogy, Sutiarini has an art talent at playing the gamelan. The background of her parents influenced her decision. Her father is a gamelan player of arja, while her mother is an arja
dancer. Due to the support of her family, she became deeply involved in the art of playing the gamelan from 1982.. Since its debut in the Klungkung Regency in 1985, her troupe has been frequently invited to participate at the annual Bali Arts Festivals (PKB).
The sekaa gong under the leadership of Sutiarini became more popular after making the performance in Denpasar. Another female sekaa gong was also founded by female lectures of Indonesian Academy of Music and Dance (STSI) Denpasar. At that time, the female sekaa gong of STSI Denpasar was in the face of Gili Semara Jaya. But the performance was not a competition session.
In relatively short time, female sekaa gong began appearing more, including the female sekaa gong of Perean Village in Tabanan, Gili Semara Jaya competed at the Bali Art Festival. “At that time, the Gili Semara Jaya were the winners,” said Sutiarini who is on the staff of the Regional Office of Tourism and Culture at Klungkung Regency. The Gili Semara Jaya troupe continues to win good achievements competing with other similar troupes.
Outside her office activity, Sutiarini fills in her spare time maintaining the female sekaa gong, especially in the Klungkung regency. Sutiarini expects that the female sekaa gong can develop further with the government holding festivals periodically. Through female sekaa gong, women can not only release their tiredness after completing household work, but also take part in an actively to preserve the Balinese culture. (BTN/033)