The Dancer, a trilogy, recounts the tumultuous days of mid-1960s Indonesia. It highlights the lives of Srintil, a dancer, and Rasus, a bewildered young man torn between tradition and political progress. Through experience, both learn the concept of shame and sin: Rasus after he leaves their village and journeys into the world and Srintil when the world finally comes crashing into her remote village. The Dancer gives a ground-level view of the political turmoil leading up to and following the coup in 1965. In 2011, a movie produced by Shanty Harman and directed by Ifa Irfansyah was made based on this trilogy.

Translated by: Rene T.A. Lysloff