Adaptation of Islamic Dance Art Education in the Higher Education

of Islam, Yogyakarta

Heni Siswantari, Fery Setyaningrum

Ahmad Dahlan University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Adaptation, Dance Art, Islamic Universities.

Abstract: The combination of art, education, and Islam in the context of dance education in the Islamic campus raises a

different form of dance presentation. There are negotiations and adaptations in various elements of dance in

order to interpret Islamic dance in higher education environments. This study aims to describe the form of

adaptation in the development of dance in Ahmad Dahlan University as one of the Islamic universities in

Yogyakarta. The method used is qualitative by conducting in-depth analysis related to elements of dance that

change according to Islamic principles. The research results showed that there is control from the university

through written rules about Islamic law that underlies various activities on campus. However, there is no

specific standard rule issued by the university and the Daily Board of Muhammadiyah about the dance

developed at Ahmad Dahlan University. In fact there are negotiations in the basic elements of dance (space,

motion, time), artistry (dressing and costume), accompaniment, and audience performances as a form of

representation of Islamic dance at UAD. The negotiations arose based on different interpretations of the rules

of Islamic Shariah by each group of students both UKM and LSO who studied and developed dance art at

UAD. The university should make clear written rules related to the art of dance that will be developed at the

university so it is not multi-interpretation and able to become the hallmark of UAD Islamic dance art.

1 INTRODUCTION

The link between art and Islam has often been

discussed by researchers both at home and abroad.

This paper will specifically discuss the adaptation of

dance education that develops in Islamic universities

in Yogyakarta. This theme criticizes the writer when

looking at various forms of adaptation that occur in

dance that sometimes are not in accordance with the

dance aesthetic itself. Sometimes adaptation is not in

accordance with Islamic principles as the campus

background. In the end there was an overlapping

between ethics and aesthetics in the development of

dance in Islamic colleges. There have been many

discussions about dance education in higher

education institutions, but there have not been many

studies related to dance in Islamic universities.

Previous research written by (Izsak, 2013) related to

music learning for Muslim students in Ontario

Canada explained that:

"Recognizing music is important, hen envisions

the emerge of" Canadian-Islamic musical expressions

"as an expression of Islam adapted to the culture here.

Music to Muslim student in Ontario Public school.”

(Izsak, 2013)

The above statement confirms that art education

in a place must adapt the culture that developed in the

region. When there are no adjustments, what happens

is misconception, miss understanding and confusing

in art and Islamic education. As in the case of dance

education in Islamic universities, it should adapt to

the views of Islam in general, Muhammadiyah, and

aesthetic needs in dance. Before going back to discuss

art, education and Islam, we need to know first what

Islamic views are generally about art.

Islamic art actually referring to the manifestation

of Islam and when we talk about the manifestation of

Islam in art, it actually is referring to Islamic art.

Islamic art is a continuation of art from the bygone

age that has developed and designed by the concept

of the Oneness of God (Tawhid) that is Allah s.w.t.

(Daud, MdZain and Amin, 2013). This initial

understanding of Osman Bakar opened the beginning

of my writing regarding art and Islam. The discussion

of these two things is always interesting because it is

often juxtaposed but also contested. The juxtaposition

of these two things is the emergence of Islamic art

Siswantari, H. and Setyaningrum, F.

Adaptation of Islamic Dance Art Education in the Higher Education of Islam, Yogyakarta.

DOI: 10.5220/0008408200900095

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Learning Innovation (ICLI 2018), pages 90-95

ISBN: 978-989-758-391-9

which is generally interpreted as an art that describes

Islam. However, these two things are contradicted by

some who claim that there is no Islamic art other than

calligraphy and rebana musical instruments (sources).

So that all forms of art that appear outside of it are

considered haram, making up, and bringing

disobedience. There are several opinions related to art

in Islam. As stated by Quraish Shihab that:

“The art of Islamic art does not have to talk about

Islam, it does not have to be in the form of direct

advice, or encouragement to do good, not also

abstract about faith. Islamic art is an art that can

describe this form, with a beautiful "language" and in

accordance with the nature of nature. Islamic art is an

expression of the beauty of manifestation in terms of

the Islamic view of Islam, life and man who leads to

the perfect meeting of truth and beauty” (Rizali,

2012).

From the above opinion, Quraish affirmed that

Islam brings beauty and realize through various

media. Islamic art does not have to explicitly teach

about divinity in Islam, but brings a message about

Islamic life through beautiful art this view certainly

does not apply to those who see art visually as an

attempt to rival Allah the Creator. According to some

Muslim artists, art in an Islamic perspective does not

have to be an art that talks about Islam with all its

teachings. Islamic art is a beautiful expression of

nature from the point of view of the reality of Islam

(views of God, nature and humans and their lives)

(Anwar, 1995).

Talk about Islam and art is increasingly

interesting when it penetrates the world of education.

In the process of education all possibilities can occur

in the name of science, while in Islam the rules are

mandatory. However, the understanding of the

characters above is our opening way to see other

possibilities in discussing art, Islam and education.

The meeting between the three things above we can

see in art education that develops in Islamic

universities. Through the world of education,

boundaries in religion and art become obscured and

often give rise to new interpretations. Universities as

educational institutions play an important role in the

production of knowledge. One area that must be

developed by universities is the development of

students' talents and interests in the arts. One of the

Islamic universities that became the object of this

paper was Ahmad Dahlan University (UAD). UAD is

one of the big Islamic universities in Yogyakarta.

Ahmad Dahlan University as one of the higher

education institutions has a separate view on art and

Islam. This view is contained in the policy and

development of art in the campus environment.

Understanding of Islamic concepts in dance works of

each university is different. Islam itself has different

meanings between one person and another. The

presence of a campus that has a religious background

such as UAD has its own interpretation of the dance

being studied. Islam in this context relates to the

slogan that is to print graduates who are imbued with

Islamic values. The interpretation of the form of

Islamic dance appears so as to form an adaptation of

Islamic norms in the context of art. This paper will

dissect in more detail the form of adaptation to

Islamic norms in the form of dance art education in

UAD.

2 METHOD

In accordance with the problems examined in this

study, the type of research is qualitative research in

the form of a written or verbal sentence from an object

that aims to use things related to the state of a

symptom (Rahman, 1993). Data collection

techniques used are observations, namely by

observing the creative process of student dance works

in the UAD environment. Furthermore, interview

techniques, by submitting several questions orally

with an instrument guide to the chairman of the UKM

and the accompanying lecturer. In addition, in this

study also uses documentation techniques is a data

collection technique in the form of notes, pictures or

films that are taken to find out, describe and analyze

the adaptation of Islamic dance education in UAD.

The data analysis technique used is the Milles &

Huberman analysis model (Miles and Huberman,

1994), namely data collection, data reduction, data

presentation and drawing conclusions related to the

adaptation of dance in the UAD environment. The

validity of the data is obtained through triangulation

of sources (Chairperson of UKM, companion of

UKM, Vice Chancellor for academic fields) and

triangulation of methods (Observation, interviews,

documentation).

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Before entering the discussion about the adaptation of

dance in UAD, we need to understand first the

position of art in Islam in general. Through this

understanding, it can also answer the basis for the

implementation of dance art education in UAD,

which is always being developed. It was explained by

the vice chancellor in the field of student affairs at

Adaptation of Islamic Dance Art Education in the Higher Education of Islam, Yogyakarta

UAD that Muhammadiyah is often considered dry

related to art and culture. That statement we need to

refute and we prove by the lively art activities in the

UAD environment. Islamic universities are one of the

agents in the transfer of knowledge related to general

sciences in accordance with Islamic Shari'a. No

exception dance education as one of the strong and

inherent cultural elements in Indonesia, especially

Yogyakarta.

Islam as a universal religion certainly does not

only regulate aspects of worship or how to worship,

but also regulates human relations with each other in

relation to culture. This is in accordance with the

opinion of (Asy’ari, 2007) which states that in culture

there are cultural universals which include the fields

of social, political, economic, philosophical and

artistic science. Thus it can be ascertained that the arts

also receive attention in Islam. The closeness between

Islam and art is manifested in various forms of works

such as mosque interiors, tapestries, and so on. Often

works of art do not manifest in works that are Islamic,

but have an Islamic spirit. Like painting works on

nature, disaster, and reflection on life. In connection

with this, Syamsul also said that in order for Islamic

work, the artist's involvement itself is in the

experience of religion and intellectual, religious, and

spiritual Islamic traditions (Anwar, 1995). Thus, the

spiritual understanding of an art actor also determines

that an artwork has Islamic value. Islam in the work

is not only limited to form, but also the background

and values contained in the work are able to make

people aware of God's power. This understanding was

emphasized by Nursaidah in her research stating that

Islamic education plays the most important rule in

enlightening and revitalizing Islamic cultural values

which will build up Islamic civilization in the future.

Through Islamic education, the student can be

influenced. Moreover, with Islamic education the

lack and art culture crisis will be solved by Islamic

and spiritual values in creating art and culture works

(Saidah, 2008). Islamic value in art education through

the creation of works that have a spirituality value

becomes its own emphasis in developing Islam in the

future.

The development of art, especially dance in higher

education is not always in the form of shari'ah in

understanding linguistic Islam. The art that develops

always puts forward the culture that exists in

Indonesia as a single country with diversity. The spirit

of developing the culture of this nation must be

interpreted broadly not just just a form. Like Dr.

Khawaja Muhammad Saeed said that Islamic Art is

the art of civilization based on Islamic religion

(Saeed, 2011). Moreover, it is not only concerned

with different civilizations and historical situations as

painted with Islamic weltanschauung. Thus, dance

that develops in Islamic higher education is a form of

Islamic art when it brings benefits to the perpetrators

and is in accordance with Islamic values. Dance arts

education at each university varies according to the

background of each institution. This is the case with

Ahmad Dahlan University as one of the

Muhammadiyah Universities (PTM) in Yogyakarta.

The development of dance in UAD must be adjusted

to the guidance in Islam. Dance stretching at UAD is

quite high even though there is no art department

specifically. In a speech delivered by the vice

chancellor of the UAD academic field namely Dr.

Muchlas MT that:

“In the past Muhammadiyah had no dance

because there were no dance coaches and who could

dance, but now there are trainers and those who can

dance so let's develop dance on this Muhammadiyah

campus”.

The above fragment of the speech confirmed that

the leadership called on the academic community that

dance must also be part of Ahmad Dahlan's university

which is supported by dancers and trainers in it. Thus,

it is clear that UAD is supporting the aesthetic

activities that develop at the university. The need for

containers in expressing dance for students began to

be accommodated with the establishment of the

Student Activity Unit (UKM) Tari. UKM This dance

has a very hard struggle to be recognized by the

university. Of course it is not an easy thing and

requires a process that is long enough to be

recognized by the university. Beginning before

becoming a UKM, a dance community called Panca

Prawesti was formed which was established on July

13, 2012. Over time, the dance community was very

active and often involved and involved in activities or

competitions outside the university and even abroad.

This community was later formalized and became a

Student Activity Unit (UKM) in 2016 until now and

changed its name to UKM Kirana Bhaskara Dance.

Kirana, in Sanskrit means light and bhaskara means

the sun (whose rays are beautiful). That way, Kirana

Bhaskara means Sunlight which is the symbol of

Muhammadiyah.

ICLI 2018 - 2nd International Conference on Learning Innovation

Figure 1: Photo of UAD dancers after the show ended.

Student dance groups in UAD are not only SMEs,

but also manifest in small scopes of study programs

called Non-Governmental Organizations (LSO) in

the field of dance. LSO is part of the study program

level student organization that houses student talents

and interests in various fields. The emergence of this

LSO also enlivened the dance activities in UAD.

Dance competitions are often held by one study

program and followed by various other study

programs as participants. The enthusiasm of the

participants was quite high as seen by the large

number of dance groups participating. Through

various forums, either UKM or LSO, dance activities

begin to develop and often fill in various events

within the university. The opening of the seminar or

welcoming guests is now accompanied by dance

performances by students. Some off-campus events

are also often followed to enrich the experience and

carry the name of UAD off campus. Various dance

works adapted to the theme or request from the

committee. However, the work is not new and is

limited to creating an existing dance. This is due to

the limitations of students in making new dance and

the absence of dance trainers for them. The ability of

students is only limited to creating an existing dance

and is presented with different compositions and

movements. Some types of dance that are often

performed are dance traditions and dance creations

such as dance golek, srimpi dance, soyong dance,

sesonderan dance, mapadendang dance, plate dance,

rantak dance and so on. While some choreographed

dances owned by several choreographers are also

displayed such as the kawung srimpi by Mila Rosinta

and Asmarandana by Pagina Gong.

Ahmad Dahlan University as one of the campuses

with a background in religious organizations namely

Muhammadiyah runs all forms of activities under the

instructions and decree of the BPH (Daily Executive

Board). The task of BPH is to monitor and provide

rules related to all things that may and should not be

done by elements within them, including students,

teaching staff, and administrative staff. The dance

activities at Ahmad Dahlan University are in intra and

extra activities. The intra activities are contained in

two study programs, namely the education of

elementary school teachers with courses in dance and

drama education and PG PAUD with dance art skills

courses. Based on previous research related to dance

art learning in PGSD UAD, it was found that the

Islamic concept applied in learning was described in

several aspects of dance, namely motion, costumes

and accompanying music. Unlike the case with dance

activities in SMEs that do not have standard rules

made by the leadership. As was stated by Yosi as a

dance companion that:

“Our Vice Chancellor III in the field of student

affairs has never conveyed the standard rules related

to dance, he is only conveyed that the dance costumes

used were adjusted to the Islamic rules of not being

strict and closed. Meanwhile, related to motion and so

on have never been mentioned again.

Dance SMEs have a concept in every activity or

performance that is displayed, one of which is to

continue to promote Islamic values. As can be seen

from each dancer's appearance, the costume worn is

more closed by using the hijab and using long sleeves

that cover the genitals, but not infrequently also the

dancers use clothes that are considered inadequate in

accordance with Islamic law such as the continued

use of leather cuffs and body shape. In the interview

conducted on July 13, 2018, it was confirmed by the

head of the 4th period of the UAD Dance UKM that

the colour cuffs of leather were still frequently used.

They maintain this when they dance traditional

dances that use cloak costumes in order to preserve

Indonesian culture, especially Java. Sometimes

leather cuffs are also used when performing other

dance works outside of tradition. According to them

the use of costumes in a dance performance not only

serves as a supporting appearance, but also contains

its own meaning from each dance performed.

The performance of the students who use leather

cuffs certainly invited controversy from several

parties. Some parties consider that the choice is not

wrong as long as it is intended for the learning

process, but other parties see that the behaviour is not

in accordance with the rules and must be

reprimanded. The debate over the use of cuffs that are

colored in skin at the time of appearance increasingly

burst. In subsequent displays, dance groups make

different concept related to traditional dance

costumes. They choose to use long kebaya so that

they do not need to use cuffs. The choice of creative

Adaptation of Islamic Dance Art Education in the Higher Education of Islam, Yogyakarta

dance costumes is also getting more attention from

superiors to subordinates. The use of top costumes is

always covered with black cuffs and is followed by

an outer covering to the arms. Whereas subordinate

costumes often use a wide skirt so that it is more free

to move. Costumes that are getting more polite by

changing the color of the cuffs resembling black skin

is a form of negotiation from students when

responding to criticisms related to costumes.

Figure 2: The dancers use cuffs of skin when they are in the

dance.

Figure 3: Photo of the dancers are using a black cuff and a

modified skirt from Jarik fabric.

Differences in perceptions related to the use of

Islamic costumes in the UAD environment are due to

the absence of rules that specifically regulate art

activities. As for the rules written in the UAD dance

AD / ART of CHAPTER II article 4 that this

organization is based on Pancasila and Islamic

principles. However, there has not been a specific

explanation on the regulation relating to the intended

Islamic principle. The development of dance in UAD

also extended to dances from outside the region such

as Sumatra, Aceh, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and other

regions.

The diversity of students in UAD also brought

dances from their respective regions were also

developed. In some works, there are paired dances

(men and women) which require dancers to look at

each other and not often touch each other. This

condition becomes quite dilemmatic considering the

movement of the dance is native to the area, but on

the other hand it crosses the limits of Islamic norms

about the rules of men and women who are not

muhrim not allowed to touch each other. Criticism

arises from several parties from the campus when

UKM tarit displays dance that touches between male

and female dancers. This certainly becomes an

evaluation in the future to be able to display a work

in accordance with Islamic principles. Nevertheless

the control from the campus has not yet penetrated

into various student art groups. This is evidenced by

the existence of paired dance that touches between

men and women both on and off campus.

The next adaptation is in the aspect of

performance spectators at the Ahmad Dahlan

University environment. Dance performances held on

campus are public consumption that can be witnessed

by both men and women. This is certainly based on

the function of universities that function as a source

of knowledge. While we know that in Islam both men

and women cannot look at each other. Of course this

cannot be done in the university environment because

both men and women mix into one in processing

science. When limits on the audience are made there

will be a decline in knowledge at the college level.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Adaptation of dance art education at the University of

Ahmad Dahlan occurred because of negotiations

between Islamic principles, artistic needs of students

and campus as a place of formal education.

Negotiations need to be done in order to be seen

between ethics in Islam while maintaining aesthetics

in dance. Universities must be able to reproduce

ICLI 2018 - 2nd International Conference on Learning Innovation

knowledge to suit the conditions. UAD as one of the

Muhammadiyah campuses is very supportive of all

the artistic activities in it. The art of dance that

develops is certainly directed at things that are

positive and can bring progress in science. As for

some discrepancies in the rules of Islam and the

development of dance in UAD because of the lack of

understanding of students in interpreting the Islamic

principles set by the university. Other factors also

arise from the lack of written controls and rules that

specifically address student art activities based on

Islam. Therefore, it is necessary to have written rules

that can be used as a reference for students in

developing dance in the university. Thus, the control

can be easily carried out and reduce the multi-level

perception of students regarding the rules in dancing

in the UAD environment.

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Adaptation of Islamic Dance Art Education in the Higher Education of Islam, Yogyakarta