Thank you, Gugum

Yes, there is traditional Indonesian dance music, with origins many centuries in the making, but there is also a much more recent “traditional” form that our friend Gugum Gumbira and his artistic associates created as a form of protest.


Jaipongan is dance music from Indonesia with unpredictable rhythms and almost exclusively non-Western instruments that artists in Western Java–specifically Gugum Gumbira–created in 1961 when the Sukarno government banned rock ‘n’ roll. Take a look at this Jaipongan dancing at a celebration honoring Gugum.

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