Feature: CERITA DARI MANGGARAI at EKI DANCE COMPANY

On July 3rd, 2021 EKI DANCE COMPANY celebrated their 25th anniversary with a Zoom conference titled CERITA FROM MANGGARAI. EKI also unveiled their new logo and plans for their anniversary celebrations.

CERITA FROM MANGGARAI opened with greetings and well wishes from Indonesian public figures Salahuddin Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, and Danton Sihombing, President of Jakarta's Art Council (Dewan Kesenian Jakarta).

The event itself featured figures from EKI's past and present, sharing both stories from the past and their plans for the future.

Among them were representatives from EKI's dancers, Krisna "Peceng" and Ara Ajisiwi. The two dancers broadcasted live from EKI's headquarters at Jl. Padang, Jakarta, which also has dorms for the dancers to live in.

From the storage room where EKI kept the hand props and accessories from past shows, Peceng shared how there's a lot to do everyday, keeping him inspired, even if managing the living logistics are always challenging. Meanwhile, Ara went live from the wardrobe storage and shared her gratitude for EKI. With classes running everyday, she and the other dancers could keep learning and honing their dance skills. However, she gave a reminder to stay humble and keep learning with discipline to level up one's dancing finesse to world-level.

One of EKI's co-founders, Aiko Senosoenoto, shared the secret behind EKI's longevity: building a family. She and the other EKI members consider each other and the supporters not merely colleagues, but members of the same family. She stated that EKI currently considers regeneration an important focus, as the founding members are getting older.

Another co-founder and the artistic director of EKI, shared his hope that EKI can continue to grow in the future as an independent company without losing the feeling of being a family. He is working on building a more professional management for the dance group while keeping the spirit of collaboration.

As part of their 25th celebrations, EKI DANCE COMPANY unveiled a new logo. Just like its previous logos, their latest logo - which features orange and indigo as the main colors, alongside modern typeface - also contains the depiction of a dancer in motion.

Moreover, CERITA DARI MANGGARAI was only the first of many events prepared for EKI's 25th anniversary. The dance company will also perform a dance show titled Ken Dedes, do a reenactment of EKI's past shows, hold a series of dance workshops, and more.

To stay up-to-date with EKI's upcoming programs, you can follow them on Facebook or Instagram.

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