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www.artiniresort.com
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UBUD BALI INDONESIA |
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BALI DANCE AND DRAMA
 There
are several other dances that could excite you. Dance
and drama have historically played an important role in
Balinese society. Balinese dances are famous all over
the world and the Balinese themselves take them very seriously.
Birthdays, weddings, and temples festivals are all occasions
for dramatic performances and dance is inextricably linked
with the Balinese religion. Through this medium, people
learnt about the tales of the Ramayana, Mahabrata and
other epic stories from Balinese history
Barong and Rangda
This is basically a story about the struggle between good
and evil. Good is personified by the Barong Keket, a strange,
fun-loving creature in the shape of a shaggy semi-lion.
Evil is represented by Rangda, a witch. Ultimately, the
two characters engage in battle, at which point the Barong's
keris-bearing follower rush in to attack Rangda.
The witch, however, uses her magical powers to turn the
keris knives in upon their owners, who fall into a trance
and start trying to stab themselves. The Barong uses magic
to protect his followers from the knives. In the end,
the Barong triumphs and Rangda retreats to recuperate
her strength for the next encounter. All that remains
is for a priest to help the keris dancers out of their
trance, with the help of a little holy water. The Barong
and Rangda dance is a very powerful performance and is
not taken lightly by those involved
Kecak Dance
The Kecak is an unusual Balinese dance for a couple of
reasons. First, there is no musical accompaniment. The
gamelan is not there. Rhythm is provided by a chanting
'monkey' chorus.The polyrhythmic sound of the chanting
provides the name, 'Kecak'.
The story line for the Kecak is taken from the Ramayana.
Prince Rama goes hunting for a golden deer and his beautiful
wife is kidnapped by the evil Rawana.Story is secondary
in this performance, though. If you want to see the story
of the Ramayana, you should see a Ramayana performance.
The Kecak is a triumph of style and mood, rather than
story. Watch the faces of audience members. More than
any other Balinese dance, the Kecak turns every viewer
into a child, wide-eyed and transfixed
Legong Dance
The story derives from the history of East Java in the
1 2th and 1 3th centuries: when on a journey the King
of Lasem finds the maiden Rangkesari lost in the forest.
Rangkesari's brother. Prince Daha, gathers an army together
to rescue his sister. Princess Rangkesari then tries to
persuade Laksmi to let her go to avoid a war, but he denies
her her freedom. On his way to battle, Daha is attacked
by a raven, a bad omen, and is later killed in battle.
The dance only takes the story up to the point where the
king departs for battle, and it is performed by three
people, two Legongs and their attendant, the "Condong".
The Legong is a very classical and graceful dance, and
is always performed by pre-pubescent girls, often as young
as eight or nine years old.
Baris Dance
A warrior dance for a group of a dozen or middle age men,
its purpose is to protect the visiting gods at temple
festival from evil spirits. The dancers wear headdresses
with a triangle of white clothe at the back. This dance
requires great skill, with the artist having to display
the whole range of inner emotions, mainly through facial
expression.
Shanghyang Trance Dance
The Sanghyang is a divine force that enters the bodies
of the entranced dancers. There are a number of dances,
but the most common are the Sanghyang Dedari and the Snghyang
Jaran. The Sanghyang Dedari is performed by two girls,
and is very similar in style to the Legong; the main difference
is that the Sanghyang Dedari girls are supposedly untrained
and can keep in perfect time with each other, even though
their eyes are firmly shut. The accompanying music is
provided by a female choir and a male Kecak choir. In
the Sanghyang Jaran, a boy dances around and through a
fire, riding a coconut palm hobbyhorse. This is a frequently
called the "Fire Dance", for the sake of tourists.
In both dances, a priest is always on hand to help bring
the dancers out of their trance-state at the end of the
performance
Calon Arang
An exorcism drama aimed at the local village witches (leyak,celuluk)
and performed when a new temple is dedicated.The part
of rangda is taken by an experienced older aktor becouse
the performance involves the witch going into an entrance
rage, possessed so Balinese believe by the spirit of the
actual Rangda.
The end of this even id unpredictable and a Rangda can
occasion run amok. The purpose of the performance is to
placate the rangda by demonstrating her power, and thus
gain her co-operation against the lesser witches in the
village
Topeng (mask)
In Bali, masks are considered sacred objects, and are
revered as such. The best ones are traditionally carved
on auspicious days, and the dancers who wear them are
believed to be possessed by the spirits of the masks.
Characters can be identified from the shape of the features;
noble characters always wear full, refined masks; while
evil is represented by bulging eyes and garish colours.
The characters are silent, but communicate using complex
gestures of the hand, head and body. The story lines usually
follow popular myths, or episodes from history. |
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bali, bali dance and drama, balinese ceremony,
destination, calon arang, legong, baris, barong and rangda, kecak,
mask dance, rejang, shanghyang trance dance
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