Research Catalog

Title

[Bedoyo rehearsal] [and] [Travels in Sulawesi] [videorecording].

Publication

1997.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Burton, Deena.
• La Plante, Skip.
• Holt, Claire.

Description

3 videodiscs (NTSC) (136 min.) : sd., col.; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

The recording begins with ca. 14 min. of a rehearsal of a bedoyo, a women's court dance, filmed in a pendopo or open-air pavilion. The women, who wear practice clothes, are often silhouetted against the bright outdoor light, and details are hard to see. Historically, the bedoyo had a sacred function and was only performed by a special ensemble of dancers dedicated to this dance. The remainder of the footage was filmed in Sulawesi, formerly called the Celebes. It begins in the city of Pare-pare and continues on to a village outside Rantepao, where Deena Burton and Skip La Plante attended a Toraja funeral ceremony. At ca. 41 min. into Disc 1, men in local costume perform a welcome dance for the guests. Among the dancers is the nonagenarian Pak Nari, who had met Claire Holt; Burton shows him a copy of Holt's book Dance quest in Celebes, published in 1939. Pak Nari leads men in further dances on Disc 2. The footage of the funeral, which ends at ca. 43 min. into Disc 2, includes views of the ornate coffin and the butchering of a bull for the funeral feast. The recording then moves on to other sites, among them Toraja stone ruins, a dark building in which men can be heard singing, the La Galigo State Museum in Ujung Padang, and other locations in Sulawesi.

Series Statement

Deena Burton Collection

Alternative Title

[Travels in Sulawesi]

Subjects

• Dance
• Dance > Indonesia > Java
• Sulawesi (Indonesia) > Description and travel
• Bedoyo (Dance)
• Dance > Indonesia > Sulawesi
• Video

Genre/Form

• Dance.
• Video.

Note

• Titles supplied by cataloger.

Event (note)

• Bedoyo rehearsal recorded at the Pura Mangkunegara in Surakarta, also called Solo, in 1997.
• Travel footage recorded in Sulawesi, Indonesia, on July 12-16, 1997.

Funding (note)

• Funding for the preservation and cataloging of the Deena Burton Collection was provided in part by the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

System Details (note)

• DVD.

Source (note)

• Skip La Plante.

Biography (note)

• Deena Burton, 1948-2005, was an American dancer, choreographer, and scholar of Indonesian dance. During her first trip to Indonesia in 1976-1980, she studied a variety of Indonesian dance styles. After returning to New York City, she obtained a master's degree in arts administration from Columbia University in 1982. Working with several dance, music, and theater groups, she staged both original and Indonesian choreographies, and founded her own company, Bali-Java Dance Theater. She frequently collaborated with composer Skip La Plante, whom she later married. She was among the founders of the New York Indonesian Consulate Gamelan ensemble, later called Gamelan Kusuma Laras. She was a major force behind the not-for-profit organization Arts Indonesia. At the New York Public Library, she edited the Tassilo Adam films, an invaluable collection shot in Indonesia in the 1920s, and received a Fulbright Scholarship to take the edited films to Indonesia in 1989-1990. She received a Ph.D. in performance studies from New York University in 1997, writing her dissertation on Claire Holt. For a fuller biography, see: http://www.gamelan.org/deenaburton/deenabio.html.

Call Number

*MGZIDVD 5-4326

OCLC

275267863

Title

[Bedoyo rehearsal] [and] [Travels in Sulawesi] [videorecording].

Imprint

1997.

Series

Deena Burton Collection

System Details

DVD.

Event

Bedoyo rehearsal recorded at the Pura Mangkunegara in Surakarta, also called Solo, in 1997.

Travel footage recorded in Sulawesi, Indonesia, on July 12-16, 1997.

Funding

Funding for the preservation and cataloging of the Deena Burton Collection was provided in part by the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Biography

Deena Burton, 1948-2005, was an American dancer, choreographer, and scholar of Indonesian dance. During her first trip to Indonesia in 1976-1980, she studied a variety of Indonesian dance styles. After returning to New York City, she obtained a master's degree in arts administration from Columbia University in 1982. Working with several dance, music, and theater groups, she staged both original and Indonesian choreographies, and founded her own company, Bali-Java Dance Theater. She frequently collaborated with composer Skip La Plante, whom she later married. She was among the founders of the New York Indonesian Consulate Gamelan ensemble, later called Gamelan Kusuma Laras. She was a major force behind the not-for-profit organization Arts Indonesia. At the New York Public Library, she edited the Tassilo Adam films, an invaluable collection shot in Indonesia in the 1920s, and received a Fulbright Scholarship to take the edited films to Indonesia in 1989-1990. She received a Ph.D. in performance studies from New York University in 1997, writing her dissertation on Claire Holt. For a fuller biography, see: http://www.gamelan.org/deenaburton/deenabio.html.

Source

Gift; Skip La Plante.

Local Subject

Bedoyo (Dance)

Added Author

Burton, Deena.

La Plante, Skip.

Holt, Claire. Associated name

Research Call Number

*MGZIDVD 5-4326