Hidup Paul Amron berubah total saat ia bertemu seorang guru yang membuatnya bertekad menjadi biksu. Ugyen Pema Lundup (nama barunya setelah menerima sumpah di Namdroling Monastery, Karnataka, India) mendiskusikan tari dan spiritualitas bersama Ibu Maria Darmaningsih, pelaku tari senior sekaligus salah satu pendiri IDF.

Gelong Ugyen Pema Lundup (Paul Amron) adalah seniman asal Indonesia yang pernah menetap di AS selama 26 tahun untuk menjadi mentor pro bono bagi para seniman dan anak Indonesia yang ingin berkarier dalam taraf global. Ia pernah bekerja dalam produksi film Hollywood bersama Sean Penn (MILK), Benjamin Brett (La Mission), dan Julia Roberts (Eat Pray Love). Ia juga pernah menjadi salah satu penata busana dan rias untuk keluarga Presiden Obama dalam inaugurasi kepresidenan di Washington DC. Empat tahun lalu, hidupnya berubah saat ia bertemu seorang guru yang menginspirasinya untuk menerima sumpah sebagai biksu di Namdroling Monastery, Karnataka, India.

Maria Darmaningsih lulus dari jurusan Tari di Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia Yogyakarta, Sarjana Antropolog Tari dari Institut Kesenian Jakarta (IKJ) dan Master of Education dari University of Lethbridge di Alberta, Kanada. Sejak kecil menari Jawa Klasik, ia mendalami tari kontemporer dan menari dalam karya Ben Suharto, Sardono W. Kusumo, Retno Maruti, dan Sulistyo Tirtokusumo. Maria pernah menjadi Dosen Tari di Fakultas Seni Pertunjukan (FSP) IKJ sejak 1987. Di awal masa jabatannya sebagai Dosen, pada 1992 Maria dan rekan-rekannya mendirikan IDF. Ia sempat menjabat sebagai Wakil Dekan FSP di 2008-2016 serta Komite Tari Dewan Kesenian Jakarta di 2003-2006. Maria adalah pendiri dan pengajar di Ardhanari Studio and Performing Arts Management.

Dance Talks Pop adalah program bincang populer yang diinisiasi Indonesian Dance Festival (IDF), pergelaran tari kontemporer terlanggeng di Asia Tenggara. Ikuti kabar mengenai program IDF melalui situs indonesiandancefestival.id dan kanal Instagram @indonesiandancefestival.
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Paul Amron's life changed completely when he met a teacher who inspired him to become a monk. Ugyen Pema Lundup (his new name after making a vow at Namdroling Monastery, Karnataka, India) discusses dance and spirituality with Maria Darmaningsih, a respected dance practitioner and IDF co-founder.

Gelong Ugyen Pema Lundup (Paul Amron) is an artist from Indonesia who lived in the US for 26 years to become a pro bono mentor for Indonesian artists and children who wanted to have a career on a global level. He has worked in Hollywood film production with Sean Penn (MILK), Benjamin Brett (La Mission), and Julia Roberts (Eat Pray Love). He was also one of the fashion and makeup artists for President Obama's family at the presidential inauguration in Washington DC. Four years ago, his life changed when he met a teacher who inspired him to take vows as a monk at Namdroling Monastery, Karnataka, India.

Maria Darmaningsih graduated from the Department of Dance at ISI Yogyakarta and as a Bachelor of Dance Anthropology from the Jakarta Institute of Arts (IKJ), as well as a Master of Education from the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. Since she was a child, she has studied classical Javanese dance and contemporary dance under the guidance of Ben Suharto, Sardono W. Kusumo, Retno Maruti, and Sulistyo Tirtokusumo. Maria was a Dance Lecturer at the Performing Arts Faculty (FSP) IKJ since 1987. At the beginning of her tenure as a Lecturer, Maria and her colleagues founded IDF. She served as Deputy Dean of the FSP in 2008-2016 and the Dance Committee of the Jakarta Arts Council in 2003-2006. Maria is the founder and educator at Ardhanari Studio and Performing Arts Management.

Dance Talks Pop is a program initiated by the Indonesian Dance Festival (IDF), the longest-running contemporary dance festival in Southeast Asia. Follow the latest updates on IDF program via website (indonesiadancefestival.id) and Instagram channel @indonesiandancefestival.