Analysis of The Concept and Attraction and The Development od Tge "Langen Mandra Wanara" Art from Yogyakarta

Abstract

Langen Mandra Wanara is a Javanese dance-drama genre that tells Ramayana story taking place in the Kepatihan complex. It has become a very popular performing art and has been widely studied by the people of Yogyakarta. This study aimed to discuss the concept, attractiveness and development of the "Langen Mandra Wanara" art. The study used a descriptive analysis method. In this research, the data was the art of Langen Mandra Wanara from Yogyakarta, which was obtained from various secondary sources, including previous research journals, internet sites, books and documentation. The results showed that Langen Mandra Wanara has a basic concept called the Joged Mataram philosophy in dancing. At the beginning of its development, the art performance was marked by the appearance of a large number of wanara (monkey) dancers. Unlike other arts, Langen Mandra Wanara basically aims to provide entertainment to the public for free. In its development, Langen Mandra Wanara's performance declined due to the influence of the Dutch colonial economic situation. Currently, Langen Mandra Wanara shows tend to be concise, performed much shorter, and involve fewer players. Thus, the production cost of court performing arts can be reduced much cheaper than before.