Didik Hadiprayitno (born 13 November 1954), born Kwee Tjoen An, better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Didik Nini Thowok, is an Indonesian dancer who always impersonates women during his performances of traditional

Javanese dance Javanese dance (; ) is the dances and art forms that were created and influenced by Javanese culture in Indonesia. Javanese dance movement is controlled, deliberate, and refined. Javanese art often displays finesse, and, at the same time, a ser ...

and

Balinese dance Balinese dance (; ''(igélan Bali)'') is an ancient dance tradition that is part of the religious and artistic expression among the Balinese people of Bali island, Indonesia. Balinese dance is dynamic, angular, and intensely expressive. Balin ...

. As he has studied dance in several countries, including Indonesia, India, Japan, and Spain, he often incorporates styles from many cultures in his dances. He is of mixed Chinese-Javanese descent.

Early life

Kwee Tjoen An was born in

Temanggung Regency Temanggung Regency () is an inland Regencies of Indonesia, regency in the Central Java Province of Indonesia. It covers a land area of 870.65 km2 and had a population of 708,546 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 790, ...

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

, the only son and one of five children of a

Chinese Indonesian Chinese Indonesians (), or simply ''Orang Tionghoa'' or ''Tionghoa'', are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese Indonesians are the fourth largest community of Overseas Chinese in th ...

father in the leather business and a Javanese mother. His Chinese side of family had lived in Java for many generations. His paternal grandfather went to Chinese temples, his paternal grandmother was a Christian, and his mother was originally a Muslim. Kwee Tjoen An was always raised a Christian. While in elementary school, like many other ethnic Chinese who changed their names during the

Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66 Large-scale killings and civil unrest primarily targeting members and supposed sympathizers of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) were carried out in Indonesia from 1965 to 1966. Other affected groups included alleged communist sympathise ...

, he changed his name to Didik Hadiprayitno in 1965. Didik Hadiprayitno began dancing in elementary school. He studied the ''

ketoprak ''Ketoprak'' () is a theatrical genre of Java featuring actors who may also sing to the accompaniment of the gamelan. It draws its stories from Javanese history and romances and in this differs from '' wayang wong'', which shares with ''wayang k ...

'' theatre, and his teacher encouraged him to perform female roles. His first public performance was in his village when he was a secondary school student.

Training

Didik Hadiprayitno enrolled in Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia (ASTI, Indonesian Academy of Dance) in 1970. One contemporary dance he performed there was ''Nini Thowok'', based on an old children's game, so he adopted Didik Nini Thowok as his stage name after he graduated in 1974. In 1979, he studied the Cirebon mask dance with Ibu Sudji in

Cirebon Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central J ...

, West Java. This was the first and the most important training outside of Central Java according to him. Later he studied from many traditional masters in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

Surakarta Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...

Malang Malang (; , ), historically known as Tumapel, is an inland List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of the Singhasari, Singhasari K ...

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

, and beyond. In Bali, he studied

with I. G. A. Ngurah Supartha. He also went to Japan and studied the '' buyō'' and ''

noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

'' dance, but he wasn't allowed to study ''

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

'' due to strong inclusion rules. Other dances he learned included the ''

bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...

'' in India and the ''

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

'' in Spain. What separates him from other dancers is that he studied all dances seriously, by being deferential to his teachers and accepting other cultures wholeheartedly.

Styles

Didik Nini Thowok's most famous dance is the ''Dwimuka'' (two face) dance, where he wears one mask worn on the back of his head, and usually another on the front. He dances with his back to the audience, leading them to believe that it was his front. This dance always elicits shock and laughter when the audience discover the truth. In ''Tari Tengkorak'' (Skull/skeleton dance), his black costume painted in fluorescent paint appears like a skeleton in ultraviolet light.

Filmography

References

* * 1954 births Living people Indonesian male dancers Indonesian male comedians Indonesian comedians People from Temanggung Regency Javanese people Indonesian people of Chinese descent Indonesian male film actors Indonesian male television actors {{Indonesia-bio-stub