ALI MARKASA’S CONCEPT IN THE CREATION OF REMO JOMBANGAN DANCE

Remo Jombangan dance is one of the many styles of Remo dances in East Java, which has its own unique characteristics if compared with others. This dance was created by Ali Markasa who is a pengreman (remo dance performer) of Jombang. Ali Markasa created a unique pattern of dance movement in such a way that techniques producing attractive and dynamic movements are created in this Remo Jombangan dance. The objective of this research is to reveal Ali Markasa's concept in the creation of Remo Jombangan dance. The method used in this research is descriptive, qualitative analysis by ethno-choreology approach. The result of the research showed that Ali Markasa's idea of such Remo Dance creation was derived from his experience as pengreman (dance performer) of Ludruk show. He observed that Remo dance in general was just so so and lack of spirit, then came the idea of creating a more attractive and dynamic Remo dance, what is now called Remo Jombangan dance. The characteristics of the dance were demonstrated in its sadukan sampur, tanjak, and ayam alas patterns of movement. Ali Markasa's techniques of creating such attractive and dynamic dance movements were so well-known that the whole dance performance of those movements was widely recognized with the term njangkrik upo due to the agility in the dance.