Atilah Soeryadjaya – Writer/Director/Producer/Costume Design

Javanese art and culture play a central role in the life of Atilah who is a direct descendant of the Mangkunegaran royalty. Growing up within the palace grounds, Atilah was raised to love, respect and embrace Javanese cultural heritage as she learned, mastered and performed most of the classical repertoire of Javanese dances at a young age.

The range of her artistic prowess is as diverse as the countries where she honed her skills. Atilah trained as a contemporary dancer and vocalist in Jakarta, took up martial arts in Nepal, interior design in London, studied traditional Hawaiian dance direct from its origin, learned meditation from Tibet, and practiced breathing techniques in India.

Atilah′s name is also well recognized and associated with the Wayang Orang, a traditional theater, due to her involvement in promoting the genre which she organized at GedungKesenian (Arts Center) Jakarta. Her current passion is to re-establish her hometown of Solo as the center of Javanese art and culture, with Javanese dance at its core.

Jay Subyakto – Artistic Director

Born in Ankara, Turkey, Jay Subyakto is a self-taught photographer whose work has brought him to different parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and America. His snapshots have appeared in publications such as Harpers Bazaar (Indonesia), Esquire (Indonesia), HarianKompas (Daily Newspaper), Tempo Magazine, Eigenhuis Belanda (Dutch) and the book, “The Rolling Stone, A Life on the Road” (Virgin Books, England 1998).

His flair for visual arts goes beyond the confines of photography. Since 1989, Jay has directed countless music videos and live concerts and worked on a series of various television programs including commercials. After working as creative consultant for the Indonesian cable channel Astro TV from 2005 to 2008, Jay moved on to Harper′s Bazaar Indonesia as artistic consultant and photographer until 2009.

Fajar Satriadi. S.Sn, M.Sn. – Assistant Director

With a professional dance career that began at the age of 20, Fajar has given his life to art and constantly seeks new ideas and ways to refine his work, including his personal perspectives on culture and beliefs. He has brought his skills, in dance, direction and choreography, on to various stage performances, as well as shared his knowledge through classes and workshops to a wide range of audiences in Indonesia and abroad. In addition to practicing Javanese classical dance, Fajar also trained in martial arts as well as Balinese breathing and meditation. According to him, both enhance his abilities as a dancer and stage performer.

Blacius Subono. S.Kar. M.Sn. – Musical Director/Musician

Blacius Subono is the seventh of nine children who are all successful artists. He began studying music at the age of 6 and often accompanied his father, Dalang (shadow puppet master) Yusuf Kiyatdiharjo, during performances. By age 12, he already took on the role as Dalang in WayangKulit presentations.

In 1995, He received the SatyaLencanaBudaya award, a cultural honor recognizing his contributions to music. Numerous artistic awards followed accompanied by offers to be chairperson of various boards and research associations aiming to preserve Javanese arts, particularly music and puppet theater. He is an accomplished court musician for the Mangkunegaran royal family and has written 18 published works on Javanese art and culture, ranging from music to theatre and Wayang Kulit.

“Those involved in the process of creating Matah Ati have such diverse backgrounds all of them are very interesting, of course. Hence, to establish some sort of unity and to achieve a single understanding within this process to the point that each and every person can perform their own tasks to create a whole, for me, is something so extraordinary.”

Daryono. S.Kar. M.Hum. – Choreographer/Supporting Dancer

Daryono Darmorejono has been dancing since the age of 10 with his father as his first teacher. He took formal studies in the discipline all the way through college where he graduated from University of Gajah Mada, Yogyakarta with a research degree on the study Dances of the Archipelago. He has been teaching at ISI Surakarta since 1983 and has choreographed many prolific dance pieces.

“Matah Ati is a phenomenal work of art that is very impressive with a unique stage and beautiful costume designs that are traditionally inspired yet redesigned to create costumes to give it a very attractive modern touch. It′s productions like this that should prevail, so that friends like us can continue to be creative and meet the masses’ demand for alternative art.”

Nuryanto. S.Kar. M.Sn. – Choreographer/Supporting Dancer

Nuryanto was born into a family that was active in presenting Wayang Orang or “Theater of the People”. Dancing since the age of 5, Nuryanto graduated from the Indonesian High School for the Arts in 1988, and stayed on to take a teaching career. Currently, he is active as both dancer and choreographer.

“Matah Ati gives us such pride, looking at it from all the hard work we achieved together with our fellow dancers, plus the artistic direction of Mas Jay combined, emerge an incredible aura. And from here, a series of amazing movements materializes. And with the support of all our fellow dancers who relentlessly gave all their hard work for the sake of Matah Ati.”

Eko Supendi. S.Kar. M.Sn. – Choreographer/Supporting Dancer

Eko Supendi teaches at the Institute of Arts Indonesia (InstitutSeni Indonesia, ISI) lecturing on the art of classical Javanese dance, choreography and contemporary dance. Eko has choreographed over 20 dance pieces.

“MatahAti is an extraordinary masterpiece, with a long development process built on research, and also a tedious search process that create each stage, to finally see it on stage is most gratifying, and 2 years of production were not in vain. As seen in the Singapore performance, from the workers behind the scenes, actors/dancers and production, all of which are 100% Indonesian.”