Depok-Kayla Aurelie Balqies, student of the Accounting study program, Vocational Education Program, Universitas Indonesia (UI) succeeded in bringing several Indonesian dances to the Project Show Macau International Show Parade 2024 in Macau, China with the UI Krida Budaya Student Dance League (LTMUIKB). The event, which was held from February 7 to February 13 2024, was held to commemorate the Chinese New Year-The Year of Dragon and showcase various cultures from abroad. Some of them are Germany, Italy, Thailand, China, South Korea, Slovakia, Philippines, France, and others.
Kayla and LTMUIKB were invited by the International Show Parade event organizer to be one of the performers in Macau this year thanks to the Cultural Mission trip of the UI Krida Budaya Team in 2023 in Spain, France and Italy. Kayla said that this project show was an impressive experience. The UI Krida Budaya Team performed two dances, namely the Selendang Dendang Dance and the Janger Dance. “The Selendang Dendang dance is a dance that combines Betawi and Chinese culture, so we want to show the diversity of Indonesian culture with acculturation of Chinese culture. Meanwhile, the Janger Dance is performed because of its beautiful dance movements, as well as unique and beautiful costumes,” said Kayla.
(Photo: Kayla Aurelie Balqies, Accounting study program student)
She started studying traditional dance when she was in elementary school to high school and often took part in various competitions. Apart from being able to introduce traditional dance to the general public, according to Kayla, Krida Budaya UI is a forum for developing and encouraging herself to hone her dancing skills.
Even though her love of dancing takes up a lot of her time, Kayla ensures that this does not interfere with her activities as a student. “For academic activities, whether studying in class or doing an internship, I am committed to doing it in one week of class. I note down all the assignments given by the lecturer and do them one by one according to the deadline. Meanwhile, for non-academic activities, I make time on weekends,” said Kayla.
She added that this achievement was the beginning of her journey to continue to deepen her hobby of dancing traditional dances. She hopes that this experience can inspire many people and provide an understanding that the beauty of Indonesia can be seen from various aspects, from natural diversity to cultural richness, such as traditional dance.
(Photo: Kayla with the Universitas Indonesia’s Krida Budaya Team while at the 2024 Macau International Show Parade)
Other than that, Kayla also has experience appearing in other international activities when she was one of the delegates from Indonesia, representing UI in the ASEAN Youth Cultural Forum (AYCF) activities on May 14-19, 2023. AYCF is one of the ASEAN University Network (AUN) youth activities designed to capture the essence of ASEAN cultural heritage, its influence and development, in order to increase better understanding and appreciation of ASEAN countries. In 2023, UI is lined up to be the host and Krida Budaya UI will also be present as one of the dance delegations from Indonesia. In this activity, Kayla and the UI Krida Budaya Team performed the Hong Bird Dance.
Director of the UI Vocational Education Program, Padang Wicaksono, S.E., Ph.D, appreciated Kayla’s achievements. According to him, Kayla’s participation with the UI Krida Budaya Team is one of the missions to introduce Indonesian culture to the world. Padang said, “I hope that this experience will give Kayla a positive impression, such as networking with people around the world and continuing to make UI and Indonesia proud.”
