UNAIR NEWS – Who doesn’t know ludruk? This East Javanese performing arts presents traditional dramas about everyday life or the struggles of the people in East Java. Ludruk is usually performed with amusing dialogues.
In addition to functioning as an entertainment medium, ludruk also shows spontaneity of people’s lives. So do not be surprised if then ludruk is considered as a performance which contains social criticisms. These criticisms are often expressed in the form of jokes, parikan (Javanese poetry), as well as stories on the stage.
However, over time, the existence of ludruk is slowly replaced by the emergence of various entertainment programs in various media. With the presence of outside cultures in Indonesia, it makes ludruk not popular to the public, especially to young people.
As a response, Master of Management (MM) of Universitas Airlangga revived ludruk which began to fade. Thanks to the initiative of MM S2 UNAIR Program Coordinator, Dr. Gancar Candra Premananto, SE, M.Si, by cooperating with 51AP, MM students UNAIR successfully held a ludruk performance titled Ludruk Goes Millennial 2019, Sunday, April 28, 2019.
“This event is actually part of the course, Business Ethics and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility. Actually, this is a challenge for MM students to be able to create activities that build awareness through innovative ways,” explained Gancar.
“MM students are invited to be leaders who are critical, superior and caring. So every semester they make a unique and different event, “he added.
Engaged in the world of ludruk since 2013, Gancar strived to find new innovations in the performing arts. Together with ludruk East Java artist, Meimura, he combined the concept of ludruk with film. As a result, the performance of Ludruk Goes Millennial was born: The Story of 1001 Nights in Surabaya directed by Meimura.
“We are trying to make ludruk not as part of the past but a part of the present that young people must know. The problem is that the younger generation does not really see that this (ludruk, ed) has business potential, “he explained.
Not only that, Gancar also said that ludruk is a way of conveying criticism with art and beauty. For him, criticism does not only have to be so frontal and emotional, but also through arts.
“Ludruk teaches to criticize someone through beauty and art. Cak Durasim promoted ludruk to criticize the Dutch government. So if you make criticism to the government, try to do it beautifully. Ludruk is our language to criticize subtly, “he said. (*)
Author: Zanna Afia Deswari
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
