Reactualizing Regional Identity through Dance: A Creative Response to Boyolali’s Cattle Icon in Amita Lembu Abipraya

Yunisa Tri Hapsari, S. Sriyadi

Abstract


This study examines the cattle icon as a cultural marker of Boyolali and its reactualization through the Amita Lembu Abipraya dance, emphasizing its role in strengthening regional identity. As an agrarian–livestock region, Boyolali maintains deep historical, social, emotional, and economic attachments to cattle, positioning the icon as a significant locus for locally grounded identity construction. This research employs a qualitative design using an ethnokoreological approach. Data were collected through observation, literature review, and in-depth interviews with the choreographer, dancers, music arrangers, and local art practitioners. The findings indicate that the cattle icon functions not only as an economic symbol but also as a dynamic cultural construct reproduced through artistic practice. The Amita Lembu Abipraya dance transforms the icon into a living aesthetic expression through the integration of stylized movement vocabularies, visual symbolism, and musical composition. This performative reactualization reaffirms cattle as representations of strength, resilience, vitality, and the continuity of life within Boyolali society. The study argues that such artistic reactualization constitutes a strategic cultural mechanism for sustaining, articulating, and negotiating regional identity amid contemporary dynamics.

Keywords


Ethnochoreology; Place Identity; Creative Responses; Cultural Icon

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v13i4.7431

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