TARI SEMUT SEBAGAI MEDIA PENGEMBANGAN KARAKTER BAGI SISWA SEKOLAH DASAR

A means of empowering students’ self-potentials is through art performance. By so doing they may get first-hand experience, knowledge, skills, creative thinking, and sense of beauty. Their sense of arts guides them to do their works creatively, innovatively and aesthetically. An art performance which can be taught to them is dance. It helps them grow up and possess an awareness of multi-culture both locally and globally which in its turn creates actions for respect, tolerance and harmony amidst the multi-cultural society. The sort of dance taught could be those which do not require pains-taking movements, while the themes could be about plays, daily activities, or animals. Semut (ant) dance is an example. Through practicing it, they not only have fun but also learn how to cooperate. Accordingly, it can serve as a medium to get them develop their characters through good deeds therein. Among the characters they can learn are: (1) respect and polite; (2) cooperation (gotong-royong); and (3) adaptation.