PONOROGO — The Gontor centennial came alive through a massive stage performance as 1,200 students and teachers presented the Darussalam All Star Show (DASS) at Pondok Gontor’s football field in Ponorogo, East Java, on Saturday night, June 27. The celebration marked 100 years of Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor (PMDG) and drew thousands of spectators from across Indonesia.
The crowd watched a packed sequence of choreography, lighting effects, and live performance. The show mixed kolosal drama, Indonesian traditional dance, Reog Ponorogo, foreign dance pieces, and modern music. It was festive. It was disciplined. And it carried a message beyond entertainment.
Gontor centennial and a student-led stage
All of the performance elements came from inside the boarding school community. The students and teachers prepared the show to welcome the historic anniversary, building the concept, props, stage setup, and technical support with their own hands.
Chairman of DASS, Al-Ustadz Hasan Mutaqin, said the production drew on the combined strength of PMDG Campus 1 and Campus 2. “The combined Gontor 1 and Gontor 2 team includes more than 1,200 teachers and students. They prepared this event for about three weeks,” Hasan said.
The work ran deep behind the curtains. Performers did not just appear under the lights. They also helped shape the show’s structure, manage the stage, and handle supporting equipment. Long days, late nights, and constant rehearsal became part of the process.
Why the performance mattered
For Gontor leaders, that process mattered as much as the show itself. The production became a living classroom where students learned discipline, teamwork, leadership, and responsibility under real pressure.
Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor leader K.H. Hasan Abdullah Sahal, who opened the event with K.H. M. Akrim Mariyat, said his role in the technical side was very limited. “Pak Akrim and I were only five percent. The children did the rest,” he said proudly.
He added that around 95 to 99 percent of the committee work, performers, and facilities were handled independently by the pondok community. For the school, DASS was never just a show. It was a practical lesson in managing time, conflict, and human resources.
From Reog to modern music
The stage also reflected Gontor’s broader cultural stance. By pairing modern music with local traditions such as Reog Ponorogo, the pesantren showed that it can embrace change without losing its roots.
That balance helped define the mood of the night. The audience saw a visual performance that felt polished and modern, yet still grounded in moral and national values. The message was clear: tradition and renewal can move together.
Founded in 1926, Gontor has long produced national figures who have contributed to public life in Indonesia. Its 100-year journey has now entered a new phase, with the institution positioning itself for a second century of Islamic education, character building, and public service.
The centennial celebration ended on a hopeful note. Gontor now turns toward its next chapter, with the same question hanging in the air: how will this pesantren keep shaping future leaders in an age that keeps changing fast?
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