Dance Performance
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Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak (the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.
The Kecak Dance
“Cak-cak-cak.” The obsessive sound of a choir from beyond the dust of ages suddenly rises between the lofty trees. Darkness looms over the stage. Hundreds of bare-breasted men sit in a circle around the flickering light of an oil lamp chandelier. “Cak-Cak”. They start dancing to the rhythmic sound of their own odd voices, their hands raised to the sky and body shaking in unison. This is the unique Kecak, perhaps the most popular of all Balinese dances.
Visitors won’t leave the island before they have attended a kecak performance. Originally the kecak was but an element of the older Sang Hyang trance dance. It consisted of a male choir obsessively addressing its prayers to the souls of their ancestors. Upon the initiative of the painter Walter Spies, this religious choir was transformed in a dance, by insertion of a narrative.
This ballet is that of the Ramayana epic. The prince Rama, his wife Sita and his brother Laksmana are in exile in the middle of the forest. Rama goes hunting a golden deer at the request of his wife who has caught sight of the strange animal and asked her husband to catch it. While he is away, she is kidnapped by Rawana and taken to the latter’s island kingdom of Alengka (Srilangka). Rama allies himself with the monkeys and in particular with the white monkey Hanoman. They build a bridge and cross to the island. War ensues and finally Rawana is defeated by Rama who is again united with his faithful wife.
The Barong Dance
The Barong is the magical protector of Balinese villages. As “lord of the forest” with its long mane and fantastic fanged mask, he is the opponent of Rangda the witch, who rules over the spirits of darkness. Barong and Rangda are opposed in a never ending figtht, that of good and evil.
At the time of the Galungan Kuningan festivals, the Barong of which there are many types: barong ket, barong macan, barong bangkal – wanders from door to door (nglawang) to cleanse the teritory of evil influences.
The Legong Kraton
The Legong Dance proper is the epitome of classical female Balinese dancing. A cour dance, it was created in the 18th century in the circles of the principality of Sukawati. Any good dancer of the legong will be able to pick up without difficulty all the modern “free creations” (tari lepas). The legong is usually the first dance taught to beginners. Months of training is needed to master the perfect mix of posture (tangkep), movements (agen – with dancing hands), and mimicry. Highly dinamic, the legong dance is usually perfomed by three dancers in glittering costumes, one condong lady-in-waiting and two princesses whose role may change according to the narrative. Ancient legongs were accompanied by a story-teller, but now it has become a dance-only performance.
The Gambuh
The Gambuh is the oldest classical dance of Bali. It is thought to have been introduced to Bali with the Javanese classical Majapahit culture. A dance moving mostly at a hauntingly slow tempo, the gambuh drama tells episodes of the story of Panji’s search for his lost beloved across the kingdoms of Eastern Java. Preserved in a few villages, and in particular in Bautan and Pedungan, the gambuh combines the best of female and male Balinese dances. Another of its particularities is the use of long bamboo flutes, instead of the complete set of gamelans and gongs.
The Topeng Mask Dance
The mask dance is performed to tell the stories of Balinese and Javanese ancestors, who descend to inhabit the mask. Nowadays, the stories proper, with their princes and clowns, are proceded by a set of solo mask dances, which are the best of Balinese male dances: the “topeng keras” or dance of the “strong warrior”, the “topeng tua”, a fantastic dance showing the advance of old age in the king’s old counselor, the “topeng dalem” or king in all his poise and balance, and an array of clowns worth those of the Comedia Del Arte.
Pendet and Penyembrama
These dances are performed as a welcome to the visiting gods, who are presented with offerings of flowers. Nowadays the showering of flowers is also addressed to tourists.
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