Posts filed under 'Dances'
The Joged Bumbung is one of the few exclusively secular dances of Bali, in which the brightly-dressed dancer invites men from the crowd to dance with her in a pretence of seduction. The music is made with bumbung (bamboo) instruments. This dance is very popular with tourists.
The dance begins with a long opening sequence by the female dancer. Then, long shawl in her hand, she selects a man from the audience by either pointing with her fan or touching his waist. He (the pengibing) comes on stage to hoots from the audience, and is expected to be as adept at teasing as the women dancer. The better he is, the louder the cheers and roars from the crowd. He may try to pinch her, dance hip to hip with her, or even behave like an angry lover and try to hit her.
The wayang puppet show is perhaps the most famous show in Balinese theatre, albeit the most difficult to understand. Basically an epic narrative, it is the key to Bali’s unique world of myths, symbols and religious beliefs.
The puppet master, or datang, tells his story by projecting the shadows of the puppets he manipulates behind a white screen and a large lamp. He plays several characters at once, shifting from Old-Javanese to High-Balinese, singing and hitting a box to mark the rhythm. A good dalang is a one-man-show, being in turns smart, funny and melancholic.
The datang borrows the frame of his narrative from the great epics of the Indo-Javanese tradition, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, although other stories may sometimes be used. He then creates his own episodes, usually concerning a hero’s quest for a magical weapon, heavenly secret or partner. The hero, accompanied by buffoons, succeeds eventually after tortuous adventures in the wilderness and fights with evil giants. The two sets of puppets - the heroes on the right, villains on the left - symbolise the eternal struggle between good and evil. But for the audience, the datang’s ability to poke fun at everyone through the mouths of the buffoons is no less important than the narrative.
The dynamic Legong Dance is the epitome of classical female Balinese dancing. A court dance, it was created in the 18th century in the circles of the principality of Sukawati. Now including a variety of modern “free creations” (tari lepas), the legong is usually the first dance taught to beginners. Months of training are needed to master the perfect mix of posture (tangkep), movements and mimicry.
Three dancers in glittering costumes - one condong lady-in-waiting and two princesses whose roles change according to the narrative - usually perform it. The ancient legong used to have a storyteller’s accompaniment, but these days they are only dance performances.
In the 14th century, the defeat of Bali by Majapahit led to the creation of mini-principalities and courts. As a result a blend of Javanese court and peasant culture was created in Bali. The present day accompanying narrative for dance and drama is to a large extent based on court stories from pre-Majapahit Java.
The Indian epics are another favourite of the stage and the Javanese influence can be seen especially in the wayang where long quotes from the ancient Javanese Kakawin poetry are recited out.
The 16th century brought Islamization to Java, resulting in much of the Javanese culture vanishing from its own land. However, it transformed in Bali, becoming classical Balinese culture. But this didn’t live too long until colonization.
The rural courts were defeated and replaced with new lords of the land, shifting the center of creativity to village associations and to the development of tourism. The Balinese cultural dance was in its hype of activities especially during the 30’s and 50’s.
The fertile decades helped survive the old narrative-led theatre while letting loose solo dances almost everywhere, accompanied by a new, dynamic kind of music called gong kebyar.
This trend continued in the 60’s and 70’s with the creation of colossal sendratari ballets, representing ancient Indian and Javanese stories adapted to the needs of modern audiences
Balinese dance is inseparable from religion. A small offering of food and flowers must precede even dances for tourists. Before performing, many dancers pray at their family shrines, appealing for holy “taksu” (inspiration) from the gods.
In this rural tradition, the people say that peace and harmony depend on protection by the gods and ancestors. Dance in this context may fulfil a number of specific functions: as a channel for visiting gods or demonic gods, the dancers acting as a sort of living repository. These trance dances include the Sang Hyang Dedari, with little girls in trance, and the Sang Hyang Jaran, a fire dance. As a welcome for visiting gods, such as the pendet, rejang and sutri dances as entertainment for visiting gods, such as the topeng and the wayang.
In some of these dances, the role of dancing is so important that it is actually the key to any meaning to be found in the ritual. In wayang performances, the puppeteer is often seen as the “priest” sanctifying the holy water.
As well as their use in religious ceremonies, dance and drama also have a strong religious content. It is often said that drama is the preferred medium through which the Balinese cultural tradition is transmitted. The episodes performed are usually related to the rites taking place; during a wedding one performs a wedding story; at a death ritual there is a visit to “hell” by the heroes. Clowns (penasar) comment in Balinese, peppering their jokes with religious and moral comments on stories whose narratives use Kawi (Old-Javanese).
It’s the most popular dance for tourists. A straightforward battle between good, the barong, and bad, the rangda. The barong is a strange creature, half shaggy dog, half lion, propelled by two men like a circus clown-horse. The widow-witch rangda is bad though and certainly not the sort of thing you’d like to meet on a midnight stroll through the rice paddies.
The Barong dance is truly a triumphant display of bright colors and graceful movements. Greatly appreciated by the tourists, special performances are staged for their benefit, generally in the morning, and last one hour. The villages of Batubulan as well as Tegaltamu and Singapadu, small towns located 30 minutes from the capital, are known for putting on the best performances. There is, however, more to the Barong dance than the folkloristic dimension, It is, in fact, an integral part of the island’s culture and has an evident sacred connotation.
It isn’t rare, in fact, to see the Balinese dancing the Barong during their religious ceremonies, regardless of the presence of tourists. Inspired by an episode taken from Mahabharata, an epic poem written in Sanskrit. the dance evolves around the character of the Barong, the king of the jungle. A mythical animal, not clearly identified (perhaps a lion), he is the symbol of virtue and good, subject to the continuous struggle against the evil forces that threaten life and the integrity of the forest, this being an element very dear to the Balinese population.
In detail, the Barong embodies everything that can be beneficial to man, and help him defeat illness. black magic and any other kind of misfortune. The evil entity against which he must relentlessly fight is personified by Rangda, queen of death and devourer of children. She is characterized by a dark and gloomy mask from which a red tongue of fire hangs. The entire dance is centered around the struggle between these two rival characters.
The Barong is interpreted by two dancers whose rhythmic movements bring to life the beautiful and elaborate cos tume they wear. a large animal head skillfully carved out of wood, brightly colored in red, white, black and gold. It is adorned with a crown extending outwards from the sides of the head, and by a prominent necklace which hangs from the neck, The final touch of the costume is a tail made out of bison leather which is elaborately finished and guilded. The first character to appear on the stage is the Barong with his swaying gait: his dance is meant to express the joy of living. He is followed by a group of armed supporters who stand ready to defend him.
When Rangda strikes her terrible blows. It isn’t at all rare for the dancers playing the Barong’s followers to become so engrossed in the sacredness of the per- formance that they go into a real trance. A cloud of characters surround the Barong on stage. Rangda, goddess of death, personification of evil, the young girl servant Kalika; Dewi Kunti, queen of the kingdom of Hastina and her stepson Sadewa who will be sacrificed in order to placate the anger of Rangda, the minister Dewi Kunti; Patih who ex- presses sorrow for the fate of Sadewa (Rangda will have to enter his soul in order to make him accept the sacrifice), and then the monkey supporters of the Barong, producers of palm tree wine (nira).
A very important element in the entire dance is the large orchestra, known as gamelan, which is essential to underscore the ritual nature of the performance. Many are the instruments that make up the orchestra: some metal xylophones which stand out not only because they are so numerous but because of their power ful and imperious sound; there are also drums as well as flutes, the rebab (a type of violin) and the gender (typical xylophones). All together, these instruments are essential in guiding the dance and underscoring the rhythm of well coordinated movements. These along with the joyful colors are the most alluring elements of this remarkable perfor mance.
At the end of the dance, the masks of the Barong and of Rangda, as proof of their sacred nature, are stowed in a special room inside the temple. They are covered very carefully, especially Rangda’s mask, because its deadly powers are greatly feared. It’s a way of saying that the ritual victory of the Barong, that is of good, which marks the end of the dance, is only temporary: tomorrow the eternal and unresolved conflict could begin again.
The end of the Barong dance is like an entirely separate performance. Also known as the Kris dance, it is named after the famous Malese dagger. The idea is based on the philosophical concept rwa bhineda. good and bad, evil and goodness which have always been present and have always existed together albeit in a constant and inevitably unre solved conflict. Nothing will change in the future.
While man is left free to try to develop his positive attitudes and let them win over the negative ones, he must nonetheless resign himself to the fact that the presence of both good and evil is a law of nature and as such must be accepted. When the dance is performed, Rangda is the evil spirit which enters the bodies of his victims, usually followers of the Barong, and pushes them to the edge of suicide.
The dancers attempt to stab themselves in the chest with their krises until they are finally stopped by the beneficial appearance of the Barong. It is he who will save these unfortunate beings by revealing that the notion of good and evil will always be inevitably present in the world and in everyone’s life and that they must therefore accept it.
Kecak dance is one the most beautiful dances that can see in Bali. This dance is performed in the outer yard of the temple, men sit in concentric circle around a large coconut oil lamp and chant in non sensical syllable like a band chattering monkeys.
The story is taken from the Hindu epic and tells Ramayana of how , prince Rama defeats the evil King Rawana who has kidnaped princess Sita. Fire Sanghyang dance is a sacred dance. When evil spirits caused sickness to strike a whole village or disaster threatened this dance was regarded as one of the most effective exorcisms.
Legong Kraton Dance
The classical Legong Kraton Danced was performed for The King’s entertainment. It is danced by three girls dressed in gold brocades and flowered head dresses.
It is the story of King Lasem who tries seduce a princess he had previously kidnaped. Her brother the King a daha declares war on King Lasem and eventually kills him in a war, such as the Warrior Baris and a Mask dance.
