Abstract
Ngremo Gaya Jombangan features a distinctive micro-kinetic element, the bolet, whose semiotic function and role in constructing cultural identity have never been systematically analysed in Indonesian dance scholarship, where it is folded into general descriptions of Ngremo choreography rather than treated as an analytic unit in its own right. This study analyses the bolet as a marker of micro-kinetic identity that constructs the aesthetic meaning and cultural identity of the Jombang community. The material consists of 47 bolet movement units documented from three purposively selected performance sites in Jombang Regency, East Java, over eight months. Data were collected through participatory observation, semi-structured interviews with 12 informants selected by purposive and snowball sampling and audiovisual recordings analysed using Kinovea v.0.9.5 and Laban Movement Analysis, continuing until coding reached saturation. The analysis identified a consistent, technically distinguishable kinaesthetic profile of 35–45-degree ankle rotation, sustained-strong effort, wall-plane shape and near-reach space, with 87.3% inter-analyst agreement. Semiotically, bolet operates simultaneously as icon, index and symbol, actively producing regional identity rather than merely preserving it. Thematic analysis yields four themes: regional differentiation, transmission of collective memory, performative legitimation and communal resistance to homogenization driven by festivalization. The study concludes that bolet constitutes a somatic identity claim through performative action, in which the moving body actively expresses cultural attachment in every execution and proposes an integrative micro-kinetic framework as a replicable analytical model for intangible cultural heritage preservation policy.
Keywords: Intangible Cultural Heritage, Micro-kinetic Identity, Performance Semiotics, Somaesthetics, Traditional Javanese Dance.