 Balinese Traditional Dance and Drama
Balinese Traditional Dance and Drama are some of the most spectacular performing arts that have drawn the attention of the world. Many of these traditional dances trace their origin to trance rituals of indigenous origin, with elements of Hinduism and Buddhism added to them.
That many of these dances require the performers to go into a trance blur the boundary between performing arts and religious rituals. There are different types of dance. Sacred dances are only performed within the courtyard of the temple jeroan, while some only within the jaba tengah. There are also dances performed on the temple feast days, or odalan, cyclical rituals performed once every 210 days according to the Balinese calendar.
Balinese traditional dancer in elaborate costume (18 June, 2004)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
The following is a list of some of the dance dramas performed in Bali:
Arja
Arja is a form of folk opera developed in the 19th century. It draws its themes from the eastern Javanese romances of the Majapahit era. As with many dance dramas, it was originally performed by all-male troupes, but in the 1920's, women have replaced men in Arja.
Baris
Baris is a Balinese temple dance performed by men during the temple festival, or odalan. The men, magnificently attired, play the role of bodyguards to the visiting deities. They perform the dance just before or after the ladies perform the rejang dance.
Rangda, the witch-monster of Barong dance (18 June, 2004)
© Timothy Tye using this photo |
Barong
Barong is a sacred dance often performed to chase away demonic forces. It depicts the mythical lion Barong who has the power over evil. I explain the Barong in more detail under Barong of Bali Mythology.
Gambuh
Gambuh is a formal dance drama. It can be considered a prototype of the modern forms of dance-dramas. Originally, gambuh is performed in the royal courts for the entertainment of the rulers. Today, it is indispensable in any odalan.
The performers in gambuh were originally all men, but today, women have taken the female roles. The stories for gambuh comes from Javanese poetic romances. In the dance, the performers wear elaborate costumes and perform stylized moves accompanied by an orchestra of bamboo flutes, lutes, drums and precussion instruments.
Janger
Janger is a fun dance developed at the beginning of the 20th century with both male and female dancers. It draws elements from Balinese, Indonesian and Western dances. The dance involves twelve girls and twelve boys. The girls enter the stage wearing traditional costumes. They sing simple folk songs. Then the boys come on stage. They wear painted moustache, sunglasses and exaggerated Western attire. The boys' dance is a complete contrast to that of the girls.
Kebyar
Kebyar is a dance that was developed at the beginning of the 20th century. The name means "flash of lightning". The dance, originally performed by a young women dressed in men's clothing, expresses the emotion of youth, from bravery to shyness and to sadness. The dance is performed seated, so it is only through the hand gestures and nuances of the wrists and elbows, and the movement of the body and facial expression that the dancer carry the entire dance performance.
Kecak
Kecak is one of the better known Balinese dance dramas. Also known as the Monkey Dance, it was developed in the village of Bededulu, and made popular by the German painter Walter Spies in the 1920's.
Kecak is derived from the sacred dance sanghyang. There are some adaptation and incorporation of elements from the Hindu epic of Ramayana. The dance involves as many as a hundred men seated in concentric circles.
Legong
Legong can be regarded as the most feminine of the dance genre. It was originally a sacred dance, sanghyang legong, performed with masks. Today, the dance is usually performed by three pre-pubescent girls wearing flower-decked headdresses.
Oleg Tambulilingan
Oleg tambulilingan is a dance created in the 1950's. The performance is accompanied by the gamelan orchestra.
Rejang
Rejang is a simple dance performed by women and girls, who are not necessarily trained dancers. This is danced during temple festivals, or odalan. The dance itself is a form of entertainment offered to the deities.
Sanghyang
Sangyhyang is one of the most notable sacred dance. The name sanghyang refers to the spirit that will posses the dancer during the performance. Such dances are often performed for particular ritual purposes other than entertainment. Sanghyang dedari-dedari, for example, is performed to ward off an epidemic or calamity. The dance is performed by two pre-pubescent girls who invite the demi-goddesses, or widedari, into their bodies.
Sendratari
Sendratari is a performing art that came about since the 1960's. The name is a portmanteau of seni (art), drama, and tari (dance).
Balinese dancer in the Barong dance (18 June, 2004)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
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Topeng
Topeng a collective form of Balinese mask dances. Among them, topeng pajegan is a sacred mask dance. During the odalan, a topeng dance may be performed in the inner courtyard, jeroan. The dancer often changes masks to assume different characters of the play, drawing upon episodes of Balinese history as the theme.
Wayang Kulit
Wayang Kulit is shadow play, a theatre popular from southern Thailand through Malaysia, to Jave and Bali. The sole performer in wayang kulit is the tok dalang, or puppeteer, who voices all the characters. The story is drawn from the Indian epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Wayang Wong
Wayang wong is said to be the most dramatic of the dance-dramas. It draws its storyline from the Indian epic of Ramayana, which is usually performed in shadow play, wayang kulit, but in this case, are staged by performers. In adapting the shadow play to the stage, some improvisation is carried out, scenes simplified, dialogues changed, and some dance steps added.
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