Published: July 2021 
List Price: £22
Format: ~ Paperback - 238 pages
Size: 234 x 156 mm
ISBN: 978-1-911193-53-1 
Tags: movement, dance, somatics, embodiment, choreography, performance, Joged Amerta, Suprapto Suryodarmo, Amerta Movement, Borobudur, kejawen, Java, Prapto, Parangtritis, Lemah Putih
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Related titles:

Ways of Being a Body - a series of books by/edited by movement artist and teacher Sandra Reeve:
Other movement titles
See our other titles in:
Movement & Somatics
Mythogeography & Walking
People in Society

The Roots of Amerta Movement
An introduction to the movement improvisation  of Suprapto Suryodarmo

Lise Lavelle


The Javanese movement artist Suprapto Suryodarmo (universally known as Prapto) died in 2019. He had devoted his life to developing, embodying, teaching and sharing his practice of Amerta Movement / Joged Amerta, which, in his own words, is not only a language for communication but also an expression of being.

In the course of his life, Prapto worked with students and colleagues (people from all walks of life, including internationally-known artists, performers, practitioners and teachers, all of whom he treated equally as ‘friends’) in sacred, ancient and mundane sites around the world. He never attempted to write down his practice, although he encouraged many ‘friends’ to spread the word and the practice, sharing their own understandings of his work widely.
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This book, covering the early years of Prapto’s teaching (1986-1997), is the closest there is to a record of that period of his work in English. It is a radically revised, updated and edited version of Lise Lavelle’s doctoral thesis and draws on her unrivalled knowledge of the culture, language, art, religion and traditions of Java – the pot in which Prapto’s life, work and practice were cooked.
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While Amerta Movement continued to evolve during this century, The Roots of Amerta Movement offers a clear and many-layered introduction. For anyone wanting to know more about Prapto and his work, it is a very good place to start.
Suprapto Suryodarmo (Prapto) from Lise Lavelle's 'The Roots of Amerta Movement'
Suprapto Suryodarmo (Prapto) with a Gunnera leaf
Contents: 
PART I: The Movement
Chapter 1: Introduction to Amerta Movement
Chapter 2: Prapto in Java
Chapter 3: Fundamentals
Chapter 4: The Movement Practice
 
PART II: The Pribadi Art courses
Chapter 5: Basic
Chapter 6: Vocabulary 1: The Hill and Sukuh
Chapter 7: Vocabulary 2: Borobudur, Parangtritis and Crystallisation
Chapter 8. Communication
 
PART III: Messenger Art
Chapter 9. Messenger Art
On the road to a Professional Art Language
Conclusion
Epilogue: Amerta on the Road in the 21st century

Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Readership:

Teachers, students, practitioners and researchers in the fields of somatics and movement, dance, choreography and creative and performance art - and anyone interested in the life and work of Suprapto Suryodarmo.
See a wonderful collection of articles and films on Amerta Movement by practitioners, researchers, artists and authors in Indonesia. See them in English here and in Bahasa Indonesia here.