The Communication Pattern of Wahyu Turonggo Aji Reog Dance in Merti Dusun Kemawi Sumowono as a means of Preserving Environment

Abstract

Merti Dusun is a ritual ceremony carried out by the villagers as a thanksgiving social act. This is expressed through a series of events covering cleaning the village, offering agricultural products, and performing Reog. Reog Wahyu Turonggo Aji (we will call it The WTA Reog) is one of Kemawi village’s cultural art performances that symbolizes cultural, spiritual values and also performs the magical power of the performer. The performance is a kind of traditional drama consisting of dancing, singing, and dialogue. The valuable symbols are represented through the lyrics of the song and the patterns of dialogue. That is the reason the WTA Reog is necessary to study. This study aims to reveal and describe communication patterns in the WTA Reog with an ethnographic communication approach. The researcher uses a qualitative descriptive paradigm method. Data were collected using observation and interview techniques were analyzed using Spradley’s theory of cultural relations and meaning, and Dell Hymes’s theory of the components of communicative events. The results of the study show and describe the communication patterns of WTA Reog in the ritual Merti Dusun Kemawi. There are two patterns, non-verbal and verbal communication. Verbal communication can be seen in the form of scriptures, Kidung Wahyu Kolosebo’s song lyrics, and spells for summoning and returning the spirit. Moreover, non-verbal communication can be seen in the form of dance movements, offerings, clothing, and make-up. The trance event is a means of communication between the spirit and the ancestral spirits of Kemawi village by borrowing the body of a dancer to give advice, as a sign of protecting the village from the beginning until now. Prayers and chanting of holy verses also represent the village community as creatures who believe in God and as a form of respecting and expressing gratitude to God. It is also a means of representing a respectful attitude to nature. All of the social acts represented in the performance have an indirect intention to preserve nature because society believes that God through His nature has given them well-being.