Dance Arts Education Study Program, Department of Dramatic Dance and Music FBS Semarang State University, commemorated World Dance Day 2023 in a hybrid manner, Saturday (29 April 2023). The commemoration was celebrated through performances via live streaming on the Youtube channel and offline at Grand Maerakaca, PRPP Complex, Semarang City.
This year’s World Dance Day celebration carries the theme “Grounding the Tradition of Knitting Dance.” The form of activities that were held were the Classical Dance Festival and the Lively Performance of Central Javanese Traditional Dance. In live streaming, the Classical Dance Festival was broadcast which was attended by elementary, junior high, high school/vocational high school students throughout Central Java. The Classical Dance Festival presented 15 nominees from a total of 67 participants.
Committee Chairman Lesa Paranti SPd MA said the enthusiasm of the participants should be appreciated considering that the classical dance material presented has a high level of difficulty. This, according to Lesa, shows that the younger generation’s interest in learning classical dance still exists and needs to be nurtured. “This is the responsibility of UNNES as a campus that consistently carries conservation values in terms of art and culture,” he said.
Apart from that, at Maerakaca, there were also dance performances from each class of students as well as talks with the theme “Classical Dance Aesthetics” with Drs Bintang Hanggoro Putra MHum, lecturers and dance practitioners. This is intended as a form of seeding to the next generation that classical dance is an object of cultural promotion which contains the cultural roots of regional traditions and customs.
The Lively Tradition Dance performance event was held in collaboration with Grand Maerakaca Semarang featuring 10 dance performances with a total of 59 dancers. The forms of dance performances that are performed are dance styles from Semarang, Banyumasan, Surakarta, to the people of Central Java.
Head of the Sendratasik Education Department, Dr. Udi Utomo MSi revealed that Unnes Menari is a vehicle for the academic community and the public to appreciate, create, express, as well as a means of education and conservation besides enjoying dance performances.
The Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Arts, Dr Sri Rejeki Urip MHum said that the Dancing UNNES event was a good momentum to hone student creativity to implement the knowledge gained during lectures. In addition, as a venue for direct practical learning regarding dance performance management in a large event.
These activities are also carried out offline and online with the aim of reaching wider community participation as well as a promotional medium for the UNNES FBS Sendratasik Education Department to the general public. The event was followed by the signing of the Implementation of Arrangement between the Faculty of Languages and Arts and Maerakaca in the form of implementing cooperation in the fields of education, research and community service.
