INDONESIAN VISITORS

Languages Captains' Report

Thirty Indonesian students (Years 10 to 12) arrived on Sunday 9 June from Jakarta and started at our school on Wednesday 12 June, where we met our buddies. They joined our classes and we showed them around our school and through our daily lives. 

On Thursday at lunchtime, they performed traditional Indonesian dances and songs in the PAC, from Tari Tortor, a traditional dance used in weddings to welcome the guests, Maumere, named after a snorkeling place which was taken down by a tsunami and Soleram Rasa Sayang, and Sayang Sayang Sipatokaan, all individual songs which were performed harmoniously. They all did an amazing job, and even the buddies and Ms Powson joined in at the end. It has been an amazing experience sharing our different cultures and building new friendships. 

Although they were only here for 4 days, we have all learnt so much about each other and we hope that they have had the best experience and an amazing rest of their trip.   

Kya Clausen and Anais Pacinotti

Languages Captains

About the 

Indonesian  Dances Performed

Indonesia is an archipelago of 17,508 islands, which makes us rich in various cultures. 

Tari Tortor is a traditional dance from North Sumatra, Indonesia. The dance is accompanied by the song Sinanggar Tulo which tells the story of a young man who is confused in finding the right life partner especially with his mother telling him that finding a life partner is not an easy thing. This dance was served as a sacred ritual and performed at ceremonies of healing and death. But, as time goes by the people of Batak perform this dance for entertainment shows and spectacles. In this dance, there is a movement called Tor Tor Somba where both of your hands are in front of your chest and then you twist it up and down, this movement symbolizes respect for the king and ancestral spirits. Apart from that, it is also a form of respect for the universe. So when you see this movement later in our performance it means that we are showing our respect to Lilydale high.

Tari Maumere is a town in East Nusa Tenggara that was once a favorite snorkling and diving spot for tourists until unfortunately the 1992 tsunami devastated parts of the coral reefs and the city. This dance’s name also comes from the song titled Gemu Famire but it is more known as Maumere. The song itself was created by an East Nusa Tenggara man named Frans Cornelis. When he first made this song, he was inspired by Maumere town’s people’s whenever they are having party they danced like there is no tomorrow as they are also having fun. The movements in this dance is very simple, but it can invite people who hear it to join in dancing and swaying. So we hope that we could also deliver that happiness to Lilydale high through our dancing.

Tari Sajojo is a dance from West Papua. This dance is often used as a performance at various events, whether traditional, cultural or just for entertainment. This dance is very famous in Papua. The song “sajojo” is a traditional song from Papua which tells the story of a beautiful woman from a village who was loved by many. Even though this dance movement doesn’t really reflect the lyrics of the song, the cheerful rhythm in this song suits perfectly. The sajojo dance has energetic, distinctive movements, full of joy and a spirit of togetherness. Later in our performance you will see a dance movement where we spread both of our arms out diagonally and move our wrist up and down while turning around it is to resemble the movement of the birds of paradise in Papua. These birds are very beautiful and a typical Papuan bird.

Florencia

Indonesian student