For two days in December 2025, Taman Ismail Marzuki became a meeting point for movement, culture, and conversation. As part of the English National Ballet’s 75th anniversary celebration and the broader UK–Indonesia cultural collaboration event, English National Ballet On Screen invited Jakarta audiences to experience ballet beyond the traditional stage.
The event combined screenings of Derek Deane’s Swan Lake in the Round and Akram Khan’s Giselle with workshops and live performances by British and Indonesian artists. More than a showcase of established works, it became a platform for exchange, where dance moved between tradition and contemporary practice while opening conversations around accessibility, participation, and artistic collaboration.
Day one: Where tradition meets ballet
The first day began with Beksan Telaga Angsa, a workshop exploring the intersection of Javanese Bedhayan dance and classical ballet.
Choreographed by Bathara Saverigadi Dewandoro and set to the music of Swan Lake, the work offered a poetic meeting point between two distinct movement traditions.
Led by Mariska Febriyani and Chikal Mutiara Diar, the session introduced participants to ballet fundamentals before guiding them through shared choreography. Rather than simply blending styles, the workshop encouraged participants to explore how different movement languages could coexist and shape something new. With 32 participants joining, the session reflected a strong appetite for this kind of artistic exchange.
Later that evening, Beksan Telaga Angsa took to the stage as a live performance. What emerged was more than a workshop outcome. The choreography carried its own identity, balancing the meditative restraint of Javanese court dance with the expressive fluidity of ballet to create a performance rooted in both traditions while remaining distinctly its own.
The activation then transitioned into a screening of Derek Deane’s Swan Lake in the Round. Staged at London’s Royal Albert Hall, this version transforms one of ballet’s most beloved classics into a 360-degree experience, placing audiences at the centre of the action rather than at a distance.
With more than 50 dancers moving across the circular stage, the production felt both grand and immersive. Tchaikovsky’s score and the sweeping choreography brought renewed scale to the familiar story of Odette and Prince Siegfried, offering Jakarta audiences a version of Swan Lake designed to surround rather than simply be observed. The first evening welcomed 108 audience members.
Day two: Opening space for everyone
If the first day explored dialogue between traditions, the second focused on accessibility and inclusivity in dance practice. The morning opened with We Dance, a contemporary dance workshop led by Lauren Russell from the UK and Arif “OneLegz” from Indonesia. Drawing from their collaborative work responding to Akram Khan’s Giselle, the session invited participants to challenge assumptions around who dance is for and what movement can look like.
Rather than centering technical perfection, the workshop encouraged movement as expression, experimentation, and communication. Participants explored creative exercises that made space for different bodies, experiences, and abilities, shifting the conversation away from conventional expectations of dance. Nineteen participants joined the workshop, contributing to an atmosphere that felt open, thoughtful, and collaborative.
That evening, these ideas continued through Factory Devotion, a live performance by Lauren Russell and Arif “OneLegz” presented as part of We Are Epic Inclusive Arts. Developed as an artistic response to Giselle, the work explored embodiment, resilience, vulnerability, and strength through an intimate contemporary performance.
Rather than retelling Giselle, Factory Devotion responded to its emotional themes. Through moments of stillness, tension, and negotiation between bodies, the performance challenged assumptions about movement, limitation, and what performance itself can represent. In doing so, it offered a compelling reflection on inclusion, not as a concept, but as lived artistic practice.
The evening concluded with a screening of Akram Khan’s Giselle, a bold reinterpretation of the classic ballet. Set within a world shaped by migration, labour exploitation, and inequality, the production transforms Giselle into the story of a displaced garment worker navigating love, injustice, and loss.
Blending classical ballet with contemporary physicality and influences from Khan’s South Asian heritage, the production felt urgent, emotionally raw, and deeply human. Its themes of grief, resilience, and forgiveness resonated strongly, creating a fitting dialogue with the live performance that preceded it. The second day welcomed 160 audience members, reflecting growing engagement with the event.
More than just two days
The activation seemed like just two days of events, while it was more than that. It was a process of learning, sharing and connecting. Workshops helped people try things. Performances showed perspectives. Movie screenings helped audiences experience dance differently.
The important thing was that boundaries started to disappear between new dances, between Indonesia and the UK, between bodies and movements. Everything came together in a shared space. That might be the important thing. Art isn't about what's shown. It's about who's included in the process.
