Kris Dance
In the Barong play, Bali's mythical guardian, Barong, battles
Rangda, the demon - Queen. barong's supporters are a group of
Balinese men with the natural ability to enter a trance state.
They are armed with a kris ( traditional sword). Rangda insults
Barong and taunts the menenraged and in a trance they attack her!
But her powers are so strong that they are knocked out. When they
come to they are so distressed by their failure, that they try
to impale themselves on their kris. But their trance state amazingly
protects them from injury.
Legong
It's the most graceful of Balinese dances. A legong dancer is
known as young girl, often as young as eight or nine years, rarely
older than her early teens. There are various forms of the Legong
but the Legong Kraton is the one most often performed.
Baris
The warrior dance, known as the Baris, is traditionally a male
equivalent of the Legong femininity and grace give way to energetic
and warlike martial spirit.
Ramayana Ballet
Basically, it tells the same story of Rama and Sita as told in
the Kechak but without the monkey ensemble and with a normal gamelan
gong accompaniment.
Kebyar
It's a male solo dance like the Baris but with greater emphasis
on the performer's individual abilities. There are various forms
of Kebyar including the Kebyar Duduk and Kebyar Trompong.
Barong Landung
The giant puppet dance take place annually on the island of Pulau
Serangan and a few other places in southern Bali.
Janger
The Janger is a relatively new dance which suddenly popped up
in the '20s and '30s. Today it has become part of the standard
repertoire and no longer looks so unusual.
Topeng
A mask dance where the dancers have to imitate the character represented
by mask. A full collection of Topeng masks may number 30 or 40.
Closely liriked to religious ceremonies and processions, and danced
as a ritual interval, the Topeng dance ultimately takes on a sacred
connotation. As a matter of fact, foreigners are allowed to see
the dance only if they behave appropriately and respectfully.
Actually, some performances are staged only for the benefit of
the tourists, but do not enjoy the same following of the Barong
and Kechak dances. Peculiar components of the Topeng dance are
the masks used to hide the faces of the dancers. Specific attributes
are used, instead, to identify the characters (a mustache and
thick eyebrows for the elder, arrogance and defiance for Patih,
and so on). The rhythm of movements (perfectly in accordance to
the age and role of the character) is underscored by a large orchestra,
the garnelan, which is essential for the success of the performance.
Jauk
Also a mask dance but strictly a solo performance.
Pendet
It's an everyday dance of the temples, a small procedure to go
through before making temple offerings.
Sanghyang (Fire Dance)
The Sanghyang trance dance originally developed to drive out evil
spirits from a village. The Sanghyang Dedari dance is performed
by two young girls who dance a dream-like version of the Legong
but with their eyes closed. The Sanghyang Jaran, a boy dances
around and through a fire, riding a coconut palm hobby-horse.
In both dances, a priest is always on hand to help bring the dancers
out of theri trance -state at the end of the performance. |
