Sakdiyah Ma'ruf

Sakdiyah Ma’ruf is an Indonesian comedian who is known for addressing Islamic extremism in Indonesia. We had the pleasure of opening her show for her this weekend at Drill Hall with a 10-minute dance routine. 

After we performed, we had the chance to watch her show where she touched on religion, as well as a few funny quirks of Australia that she found amusing since being here.

One of the points she brought up was how it seemed as though the whole city was in mourning while rushing to work dressed in black from head to toe. I couldn’t help but laugh as I sat there wearing a black t-shirt, black jeans, black shoes with a black watch.

Below is the video of our performance at this event. The first dance shows Betawi Movements through Tari Lenggang Nyai. The name of this dance comes from the word for swing ‘lenggak- lenggok’ whilst ‘Nyai’ is named after ‘Nyai Dasimah’, an inspiring female figure who fought for her rights and freedom. The second dance shows movements from the Kelono Topeng Mask Dance from Central Java. This showcases the traditional movements and costumes of Central Java, whilst the dancer uses a traditional mask to perform intricate movements. Finally, to close this performance, Sanggar Lestari incorporates a modern hip-hop style of dancing into their Indonesian movements. Much like Sakdiyah, Sanggar Lestari embraces both their Indonesian cultural identity and modern identities.

Performed by Mira, Deena, Yulitta, Melissa and Yana from Sanggar Lestari Melbourne.

Melissa and baby Shah

Details of Mama Yulitta’s Tari Topeng outfit

Yana & Mira with Sakdiyah Ma’ruf after the show

Lestari Family BACK LR Seraina, Laura, Ben, Yulitta, Yana, Mama Ning FRONT LR Simone, Deena, Mira, Jasmine, Melissa, Shahraan