Trying to preserve Reog art and various knowledge to other people, a member of the Ponorogo Police Traffic Unit, Brigadier Luhur Ainul Fikri, taught disabled children to learn about the Reog gamelan.
Even though he is busy as a member of the National Police in the Traffic Unit, Luhur still makes time, once a week, to come to the Aisyiyah Blind Orphanage, Ponorogo, to teach children with special needs.
“I just want to share knowledge with them. “My background is as a Reog Ponorogo artist,” said Luhur.
He continued, Luhur added that, for more than two years, he had been training children at this orphanage to hone their talents in the art of music, especially gamelan.
“Everything is taught, starting from beating the drum, beating the gong, blowing the slompret (Reog trumpet), and also playing the angklung, and hitting the kenong,” he added.
Still, according to Luhur, there are challenges in teaching children with special needs, especially since they don’t know Reog at all, some even just hear it, without seeing it.
“You have to be patient and painstaking, sometimes even adapting to their mood,” he explained.
Even though they have limitations and shortcomings, these children also have extraordinary advantages compared to children in general.
“Even though there are limitations, they also have advantages, one of which is that they master the material very quickly,” he explained.
One of the 15 orphanage children who studied Reog art, Muhammad Harris, said that before studying, he was curious about the Reog music that came from slompret. The reason is how come someone can blow a slompret as if it doesn’t stop.
“Before, I was a bit afraid of the name reog, but after finding out I was happy,” he said.
Haris only relies on hearing, because his eyes can no longer see. This was an obstacle in the beginning of learning to blow a slompret. “I used to be confused, because I could only hear the notes, whereas how to play the slompret was a bit difficult, because there were only five holes,” he concluded. Adv/Ptr
