Jakarta’s afternoon breeze was a friendly touch, complementing a blue sky and bright sunlight. I had the pleasure of speaking with an Young Indonesian Kartini named Kalya Mahiya Pravina a 13 year old girl who has already accomplished so much in her dance career. Kalya is noted for her dance style, reminiscent of Kartini.
Every April 21, we celebrate and commemorate Kartini for her efforts to achieve women’s equality in education. The efforts of the young Indonesian woman made us proud, by achieving her dreams of becoming a prominent dancer at such a young age. She did not give up easily and kept pursuing new goals to sharpen her talents.
Kalya currently attends Al Izhar Middle High School in Pondok Labu, Jakarta. Despite the demands of her dancing career, she maintains an ex-ceptional academic record. “I danced for the first time at the age of four when I performed Kalimantan’s Day- ak Dance,” explained Kalya, who is also the Cultural Ambassador of Kiny Cultura Indonesia.
Teenage girls would prefer modern dances to traditional ones, which dis- tinguishes Kalya from other teenage girls. “Indonesian traditional dance depicts the character of the nation, one that needs to be guarded. I want to learn many Indonesian tradition- al dances to do my part to preserve Indonesian culture,” Kalya stated en- thusiastically.
Up to now, Kalya has mastered 13 Indonesian traditional dances, including Papua’s Yospan, East Kalimantan’s Enggang (Hornbill), Kembang Kipas, Lenggang Nyai, Topeng, Kite Satu, and Betawi’s Dewangga. Kalya has also mastered dances from Sumatra and Eastern Indonesia, such as the famous West Sumatra Piring (Plate) Dance, the Marpangir Dance from North Sumatra, the Giring Giring Dance from Central Kalimantan, the prominent Ratoh Jaroe Dance from Aceh, Riau’s Lancang Kuning Dance and the Tifa Dance from Nusa Tenggara.
“It takes a month to learn and master a solo dance and two to three months to master group dances, as it takes longer to dance harmoniously,” she said. Kalya has accomplished a great deal in her nine years of dancing experience. “I have obtained 17 trophies from national dance competitions and five internationally certified awards for both solo and group dance categories,” she said.
Of all Kalya’s achievements, her most memorable feat was the folk dance competition in Wales, United Kingdom, when she took part in 2019 at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. “It was my first time to participate in an international competition, and I came in second place, with several friends from Gema Citra Nusantara. I was only 9 years old then,” she added.
Kalya has accomplished a great deal in recent years, in addition to that arrayed above. She was awarded first place in the solo folk dance category at the “Portugal Art Carnival” in Portugal, and was awarded again in October 2022, when she won the 11–14-year-old International Category Winner for Traditional Folk Dance in the “Welcome to Canada” online festival in Toronto, Canada.
Kalya took first place in the Alpus Cup Renaissance Traditional Dance Competition and the International Festival Online Competition, Folk Dance and Music “Under the Hot UAE Sun,” in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Being so young and vibrant, Kalya manages her time well between school and dancing. “I set priorities. My first priority is my school and assignments, then dance practice on Saturday and Sunday,” she explained.
Kalya has noble dreams of pass- ing on her dancing passion to her juniors. “I want to pass on my passion for traditional dances to the Indone- sian young generation, to preserve Indonesian culture. I dream of traveling around the world to introduce
Indonesian culture,” she hoped.
I ended the interview session by asking her what Kartini meant to her. “Kartini is a strong Indonesian woman who was brave to fight for women’s rights to education at a difficult time,” she concluded.
Kalya is living proofan Indonesian teenager who continues to pur- sue her aspirations. As our glorious heroine used to say: “Keep dreaming! Keep dreaming! Dream as long as you can! If you stopped dreaming, what would life be like? As real life is un- kind,” RA Kartini.
