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JAVA LANGEN

At present, neither the bedaya nor the srimpi is so popular among the majority of the people. However, they are still cultivated continuously being given new choreographies and made more dynamic.

LANGEN DRIYA

Literally, the term langen driya comes from the word langen meaning entertainment and the word driya meanig heart. In the world of Javanese dancing, langen driya is a kind of wayang wong or dance-drama, the dialogues being expressed by tembang or singing. The langen driya, which developed both in Surakarta and Yogyakarta, presented only the story of Damarwulan, the background of which is an historical event from the Majapahit period.
In Surakarta the first langen driya was composed by Prince Mangkunegara IV in the 19th century. In Yogyakarta langen driya appeared in 1876, with Raden Tumenggung Purwadiningrat and Prince Mangku bumi, the crown prince of the kingdom of Yogyakarta, as choreographers. Like the wayang wong the langen driya, Surakarta and Yogyakarta styles seemed to have a most favourable development.
Next there emerged in Surakarta other compositions of Javanese operas, the langen asmara and pranasmara.
The langen asmara, which comes from the word langen meaning entertainment and the word asmara -meaning love, is a Javanese dance-opera Surakarta style, composed by Prince Prabu Widaya, son of King Paku Buwana IX This Javanese dance-opera presents the love -story of Menak from the period of Islam. A special .characteristic of this dance-opera is that it is danced by woman dancers.

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Pranasmara, which comes from the word Prana meaning heart and the word asmara meaning love, is a Javanese dance-opera, Surakarta style, I which presents the Panji story, legendary story from the period of Kediri. The pranasmara is also danced by girls. Having encouraged woman dancers in various Javanese dance-operas, Surakarta style, the langen driya, Surakarta style, is also danced by girls. Today Nyai Bei Mardusari who used to be the leading langen driya dancer, in her youth the queen of langen driya, Surakarta style, is still actively teaching the younger generation dancing and singing.

LANGEN MANDRA WANARA

In Yogyakarta, at the end of the 19th century there was a composition which resembled the langen driya called langen mandra wanara. Langen mandra wanara comes from the word langen meaning entertainment, the word mandra meaning beautiful and the word wanara meaning ape. So, literally, the term langen mandra wanara means a beautiful entertainment in the form of ape-dancing. In fact, the Javanese dance-opera, Yogyakarta style, is a dance-opera presenting the story of Ramayana. In the story of Ramayana, which describes the war between Rama and the giant-king Rahwana or
Dasamuka, who has stolen Rama's wife Dewi Sinta, Rama was aided by the ape-king Sugriwa and other ape-heroes among others Hanuman.
The langen mandra wanara, Yogyakarta style, is the product of the art of Prince Danurja VII, vizier of the king of Yogyakarta. This Ramayana dance-opera is performed in a squatting position. But since the first half of the 20th century some groups have performed it in a standing position following the same style of the wayang wong.