​The Survival Of Cipta Art Production During Pandemic

Technological advances open up great opportunities for globalization with the presence of social media which facilitates the entry of foreign cultures into the country. This leads to foreign culture being in more demand to Indonesian people, especially the nation’s young successors. In this modern era of the continuous growth of technological advances, added with this kind of pandemic situation, there are still communities that continue to aspire to preserve Nusantara culture through dances from Sabang to Merauke. It is Cipta Art Production, which is led by Ilham Muji Riyanto, called Ilham (25).

 

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Cipta Art Production was founded on August 5, 2010. Over time, Cipta Art Production has expanded to have four studio branches which are in Cipadu, Ciputat, Serpong, and Alam Sutera. With only one trainer and two assistants, Cipta Art Production managed to attract a total of 150 members. Within a week, Cipta Art Production practiced twice on Wednesday and Saturday. Not only just dance, Cipta Art Production also provides make-up classes for the dancers. Cipta Art Production teaches a variety of traditional dances such as Tari Remo, Tari Mulu Dugder, Tari Kijang, dan Tari Mahameru.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The studio, which has been established for 11 years, has received many awards from various competitions and performances. Cipta Art Production also received the opportunity to appear in several major events such as the Asian Games in 2018, when Indonesia hosted the event. Although the practice time for Asian Games was only within a day, they managed to showcase a mix of traditional dance with modern dance, in the late afternoon of the event. Behind many achievements they have obtained, Ilham emphasizes the students to keep learning through creating new dances in order to develop creativity. In addition, members are also directed to take part in competitions so they can test their mentality to become bolder and more confident.

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As we know, the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the country for more than a year. It also has an impact on Cipta Art Production just like any other artists. Cipta Art Production lost many of their performance schedules at the beginning of the pandemic. However, due to the enthusiasm and persistence of Ilham and the members, Cipta Art Production was able to survive during this pandemic. 

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How do they survive in the midst of the difficulties of being exposed to Covid-19?

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Initially, both members and Ilham were afraid to do offline exercises during the pandemic. To overcome this, they held online practices via zoom meetings or Instagram. Offline exercises were only performed a few times a week under the health protocol such as wearing masks and face shields. They didn’t practice in the studio, but in Ilham’s house by forming small groups.

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Even though the pandemic situation is limiting the space for their movement, their enthusiasm for training are unflagging. They still carry out training with a membership fee of Rp100,000 per month. In order to survive, Cipta Art Production worked together with the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud), Ministry of Creative Economy (Kemenkraf), and the Jakarta Arts Council. They built the Indonesia Dance Network which is a digital platform for artists to perform dances, to get help in the form of donations, through digital payment platforms such as OVO.

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Despite receiving assistance from several parties, Cipta Art Production still faced other obstacles when entering the Ramadan period in the midst of a pandemic. During Ramadan, their practice time was limited. Ilham admitted that they are having difficulty practicing during the fasting month. The physical condition becomes a barrier as the children get tired easily and unable to control their mood swings during the practice. To anticipate that, Ilham made several adjustments by reducing the practice durations from three to two hours and six to three hours. This adjustment seems to have worked because it made the members train more energetically and cheerfully. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ilham felt that the pandemic conditions should not diminish the art of dance in Indonesia. With his enthusiasm, vision, and mission, Ilham tries to keep Cipta Art Production going on. “Even though we are still in the pandemic, we must be more enthusiastic and improve our creativity more, so that we can be bigger and more creative, creating more new works,” Ilham said.

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Their hard work to keep practicing during the fasting month amidst the pandemic produced satisfactory results. The success of Cipta Art Production can be seen by the fact that there are still many performances, competitions, and upcoming events that will certainly help the studio’s finances to continue to survive during the pandemic. The key to the success of Cipta Art Production comes from the noble goal of its founder, Ilham, to preserve and develop Indonesian culture and push the creativity of nation’s children. He poured it into the vision and the mission of Cipta Art Production, which is making the children more creative, innovative, and capable of creating their own dances. Instead of looking for profit, he always prioritizes the preservation of Indonesian culture. “Our tradition should not be taken by other people, we should preserve it,” he said.

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This vision is well expressed through Ilham’s upbringing members. One of the members in Cipta Art Production, Ocha (15) who has become a member of Cipta Art Production for three years. Through recommendation from her friend, Ocha was interested in Cipta Art Production as she had the opportunity to learn various kinds of dances from many provinces in Indonesia. Ilham’s support and guidance has made ocha become moreW motivated to dance in order to preserve Indonesian culture. 

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“I’m staying here, even though we are still in a pandemic, for Indonesian culture. Right now, the demand of Indonesian culture is starting to decrease. Even though I’m not a professional dancer, at least I can preserve Indonesian culture even if it’s difficult, ” She explained. 

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Writer: Anasthasia Yuliana, Aurelia Felicia, Celine Night

Editor: Zahrah Pricila

Cameraman: Anasthasia Yuliana, Celine Night, Aurelia Felicia

Video Editor: Gabriela Amanda

Scriptwriter: Zahrah Pricila