Reyog Bulkiyo Combating Tyranny

War dancers - Zul Lubis

Reyog Bulkiyo is a traditional art from Blitar, East Java, in the form of a war dance performance. The war dance performances in Reyog Bulkiyo are intended as a war between the good against the evil. The good is represented by the figure of Anoman who destroys the figure of Rahwana. Then the other good in Reyog Bulkiyo is the Bulkiyo character who conquers the tyrannical King Karungkolo.

The story of Anoman destroying Rahwana emerged from the popular folktale of Ramayana in the Hindu tradition. Hindus does not explicitly appear in the show. Anoman defeats Rahwana only appearing on the flag that is under one of the dancers. The flag appears just before the Reyog Bulkiyo show ends. The dancer is dressed in Javanese costumes in the form of blangkon, a coat without a neck cover, batik wrapped around the waist. This dancer also functions as a closing for the Reyog Bulkiyo performance. This dancer is called a rontek dancer.

The story of Bulkiyo’s heroism in destroying the the tyrannical King named Karungkolo does not appear in the show. This Bulkiyo figure is a seeker of the Prophet Muhammad who in his wandering meets various bad people, including the most evil King Karungkolo. In his search, the Bulkiyo character cannot find the Prophet Muhammad because at that time the Prophet has not yet been born.

The story of the wandering and adventure of the Bulkiyo character appears as an off-stage story told by the late Mbah Supangi, always the leader of this traditional art group as the core of the story told by Reyog Bulkiyo. Because the name “Bulkiyo” in Reyog Bulkiyo comes from the Book of Ambyo which contains stories of prophets and great scholars in the Islamic tradition.

The book of Ambyo is well known among traditional Muslims in Blitar and Javanese culture in general. The Book of Ambyo is the story of the prophets and great Islamic scholars in Javanese written in hijaiyah letters (Arabic pegon). This book was composed in the form of Javanese poetry such as megatruh, sinom, asmaradana, and others.

Thus, Reyog Bulkiyo is a combination of two great faith traditions, namely Hinduism and Islam. The concept of belief that comes from these very different traditions is composed in a harmonious dance movement in Reyog Bulkiyo.

Reyog Bulkiyo Show

Like the common dance performances in Java, the Reyog Bulkiyo is accompanied by music. The music in the Reyog Bulkiyo performance consists of two groups, namely a gamelan set and a tambourine set. This gamelan set consists of one kenong, one kempul, one bende, one slompret, and a pair of pecer. Then a set of tambourines consists of two gae, one thrinting, one gedhug telu, and one glenyoan.

A set of simple gamelan is played by four special musicians who are next to the performance of the dancers. How to play kenong, kempul, and bende by hanging them on the wood, or it could be the players holding the strings of musical instruments tightly with their left hand and then hitting them with their right hand. The slompret or trumpet is played by blowing.

The tambourine is played by hitting it with the palm of the hand. However, there are three tambourines that are beaten by using sticks, namely the trinthing and gae tambourines, totaling two. These five tambourines are played by five warrior dancers along with a pair of pecers played by a warrior dancer.

The late Mbah Supangi, Leader of Reyog Bulkiyo - Zul Lubis

Moving quickly during the fight - Zul Lubis

Thus, the six warrior dancers of Reyog Bulkiyo, apart from dancing in the middle of the performance, also play musical instruments.

Throughout the Reyog Bulkiyo stage, music is played from the beginning to the end of the show. The rhythm of the music played has a slow rhythm and a fast rhythm. At the beginning of the performance, the music is played slowly, in the middle of the performance, the rhythm of the music changes a little faster, then fast, then towards the

end of the performance, the music is played slowly again. Fast music rhythms exist during war dances performed by pengarep dancers. Music is played with fast beats.

In terms of dancers, Reyog Bulkiyo is performed by nine dancers consisting of rontek, pengerep, and soldiers who perform uniform dance movements. Eight dancers and warriors line up in a four-by-four formation. Meanwhile, Rontek is out of line with the position as the leader of the dance.

In the soft sound of music, the dancers

and soldiers build dance formations.

The eight dancers perform movements in the following sequence: hormat, abaaba, iring-iring prajurit, lincak gagak, langkah seoran, gagahan ndhodok/ngasah gaman, nantang, hormat kedua, rubuhrubuh gedhang, untir-untir, singget, solah, bacokan, nggorok, hormat.

Structurally, the movement continues to build a unit of movement that is spread out on the stage by a total of eight dancers. In each type of movement, the speed of movement is different from one another. In terms of plot, the movement at the beginning and at the end is slower than the movement in the middle. The

fastest middle movement is the bacokan movement which means war, a battle of

arms, between the good and the evil.

Inspired by the prophetic story from the book Al Anbiyun - Zul Lubis

Each of these movements has its

own meaning. Overall, the variety of movements builds a story (narrative) about the war that took place between the righteous and the evil. As for the story, it contains the story of the victory of the righteous and the destruction of the evil.

Functions of Reyog Bulkiyo

The Reyog Bulkiyo performance has a purpose and function in the community of its owner, namely the people of Kemloko Village, Nglegok District, Blitar Regency, East Java. The functions of Reyog Bulkiyo include ritual functions and performance functions.

The ritual functions of Reyog Bulkiyo are in the form of performances in the Pitonan or seven-monthly celebration of child birth, padi harvesting, circumcision, khaul performances for the fulfillment of the owner’s wishes, and marriage. These rituals accompany the journey of the human life cycle.

Reyog Bulkiyo’s performance at a wedding celebration is a hope that the bride and groom will become a long-lasting husband and wife. At the Pitonan event or seven month of the birth of a child, the hope is that the child will grow up healthy, become a good child, and be obedient to their parents. At the padi harvest, it is a sense of gratitude for the padi harvest the owner received. While khaul is gratitude to God for the desire achieved.

Thus, Reyog Bulkiyo is a traditional art that contains sublime local wisdom in the form of gratitude to God, respect for all existing beliefs. The function and meaning of this performing arts are in line with the sustainability of human life, not only to fulfill the physical needs of clothing, food, and housing, but also to sustain the cultural order that encloses the human life itself. Therefore, Reyog Bulkiyo should be preserved for the life of future generations.

(Imam Muhtarom, Lecturer at Singaperbangsa Karawang University)

Accompaniment of Reyog Bulkiyo - Zul Lubis