Inventing the Reinvention? Tradition and the Body of Dancing Women

Abstract

Dance practice has long been associated with complex social and political historical functions. There is a lot of evidence showing the centrality of dance in society, and it has become an inseparable part of the historical process. At the same time, dance became a site associated with women. Based on Hobsbawn's idea of the invention of tradition, this paper investigates the Jathilan Obyog tradition in Ponorogo concerning the dominant elite and the role of Jathil women. To facilitate the investigation, this paper is conducted by a qualitative method with an ethnographic approach that includes participant observation, interviews, and documentation adapted to context and needs to reach the research objectives. This research applies the concept of the invention of tradition, which was first initiated by Eric Hobsbawn and Terence Ranger as the center of analysis. Finally, this paper argues that in a hegemonic endeavor that attempts to 'discipline' the tradition, Jathil women have succeeded in determining the power to reinvent tradition in picturesque ways, especially through the body and massive support of media to create a process of reconstructing social memory and imagination.