Kecak Dance

The Kecak (pronounced: “KEH-chahk”) is a Balinese music drama performed primarily by men, interestingly enough, with no musical accompaniment.  Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece is performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting “cak” throwing their arms in the air.   The men not only provide the rhythm for this dance but also act as the various monkey armies that are featured in the story and as the undulating snake in one of the scenes.

In the 1930s Wayan Limbak worked with German painter Walter Spies to create the Kecak from movements and themes in the traditional ‘Sanghyang’ exorcism ritual and the portions of the Ramayana. This collaboration between artists worked to create a dance that was both authentic to Balinese traditions but also palatable to Western tourist’s narrow tastes at the time. Wayan Limbak popularized the dance by traveling throughout the world with Balinese performance groups.

It depicts an epic battle from the Ramayana where Prince Rama fights the evil King Rahwana, with the help of the white monkey army, to rescue his kidnapped wife Dewi Sinta.

It is an impressive dramatic performance not to be missed, especially against the backdrop of the Tanah Lot Temple at sunset.

Barong Dances

The dance presented here is called Barong Keket, the most popular of the Barong Dances. The Barong Keket wears a mask of a mythical lion follower by his friend monkey.
The name of the Barong depends on the animal represented in the Dance. If the mask is of a tiger, ‘Macan’ in Balinese, the Barong is then called Barong Macan.
Barong, a mythical creature with long swayback and curved tail, represents the positive, a protector of Mankind, the glory of the high sun, and the favorable spirits associated with the right and white magic.

’Rangda’, the widow-witch, represents the opposite complement. She rules the evil spirits and witches. Her habitat is darkness and her powers come from the practice of black magic and the destructive force of the left.

Both figures are of the same earthly substance but possessing strong magical prowess. Somewhere in a mythical past, the Barong was won over to the side of humanity and, in the dance, fights on behalf of the people against the intruding death forces of the Rangda.

The barong play represents an eternal fight between Good and Evil. The story of Kunti Sraya, a favorite theme of drama, is derived from the one of the main episodes in the famous Hindu epic, the Mahabarata. It is about Dewi Kunti, the mother of the five Pandawas who for various reasons, has promised to sacrifice Sadewa, one of her five sons to Rangda.

Sanghyang Trance Dance

The Sanghyang Dedari is a ceremonial dance for prayer and ceremony. In this particular dance, the dancers become mediums used to contact the spirit world.

A group of women chant a centuries-old song, calling the divine spirits from heaven to dance in the bodies of the young girls as they kneel before a smoking brazier of incense. The dancers sway to the rhythm of the music and as it increases in tempo they fall senseless to the ground.

They are bodily lifted up by their attendants and hoisted on to the shoulders of men who carry them to place where they will dance. The chorus of song now begins once more and the tiny figures, their eves firmly closed, sway to the music in perfect harmony, following the movements of a simplified Legong. These young dancers have never had lessons, and they could not repeat this performance in a normal state of consciousness.

Sanghyang Jaran Trance Dance

Sanghyang Jaran is a male version of the Sanghyang Dance involving a man who tramples a fire of coconut husks on a horse, ‘Jaran’ in Balinese. The Jaran is represented by a simple hobby-horse of palm leaves. The red hot coals are scattered and the man dances in a trance like a horse, snorting and neighing, seemingly unscathed by his ordeal.

Regular Sanghyang performances are held in Bona and Gianyar enabling those with a short time in Bali to witness these rarely performed dances.

Baris Dance

Baris Dance is a traditional war dance that glorifies the manhood of the triumphant Balinese warrior. The word Baris means a rank or file of soldiers and is referred to the warriors who fought for the kings of Bali. There are numerous kinds of Baris, distinguished by the arms borne by the dancers; spear, lance, kris, bow, sword, or shield.

Originally, the dance was a religious ritual. The dedication of warriors and their weapons during a temple feast. From the ritualistic Baris Gede grew the dramatic Baris, a story prefaced by a series of exhibition solo dances which showed a warrior’s prowess in battle. It is from these that the present Baris solo takes its form.

A Baris dancer must undergo rigorous training to obtain the skill and flexibility, which typifies the chivalrous elegance of the dance. A Baris dancer must be supple, able to sit on his heels, keeping his knees spread wide apart in line with his body. His face must be mobile to convey fierceness, disdain, pride, acute alertness and, most importantly, compassion and regret, characteristics of a warlike noble. The Baris is accompanied by a Gamelan Gong. The relation between dancer and orchestra is an intimate one with the gamelan entirely attuned to the changing moods of the warrior’s imperious will. Such a spectacular show of style, mental control of and physical dexterity would intimidate any enemy worthy of the Baris!
Janger Dance

A folk dance introduced to the island in the thirties, Janger also has its origin in the Sanghyang trance ceremony, in which the women chant the Sanghyang song and the men alternate with the gruff sounds of the Kecak. When the dance first came into existence, it spread through the Banjars like fire. Every village had to have a Janger group, and the dance became a popular social event between young boys and girls.

The flute begins an eerie tune, and faraway voices chant a strange song that flows from a loud melody to a nearly inaudible high pitch. Two girl singers appear wearing splendid, floral crowns with multi-colored spikes. They advance, allowing another pair to enter, until twelve girls have filed on stage.

Slowly, they kneel opposite each other, cocking their heads and darting their eyes to accent the rhythm of the orchestra. As the chanting continues, twelve young men silently repeat the girls’ entrance.

In contrast to feminine delicacy, their movements are deliberate and strong. All wear painted moustaches and bear the self assured look of a courtier.

Suddenly, the male formation breaks into frenzied activity of twists, jerks and lunges -all in the tight syncopation of a military drill. Instantly, the shock wave ceases, the men freeze in their positions, and the lonely flute carries the dance back to the soft sways and chanting of the girls. The juxtaposition of the subdued motions of the girls against the dynamic thrusts of the men, the harmonious feminine song against the jagged yells of male voices, makes Janger an artful composition of dance, music and chorus.

Anthropologists have suggested that the Balinese are an amalgamation of a number of races; The Chinese from the North, the Indians and the Arabs from the west and other racial groups coming directly to Bali, or by way of Java, from the east.  They are blessed with golden-bronze skin, long, glossy black hair, charm and mystical smiles, happily living in a rich and dynamic culture. Although Bali has been influenced by numerous cultures throughout the ages, there are still pockets of villages where fraternization with outsiders is restricted.  This is a people and a society that is known as the Bali Aga (Old Bali) which allows us a glimpse into the traditional culture of a Bali centuries past.
Balinese society is very community oriented.  A person in Bali cannot exist in solitude.  Much of the rituals require massive effort which the village shoulders co-operatively.  Everyone has their role to play; from playing an instrument in the orchestra to dancing in ceremonies.  This too, can be observed in their young.  As the parents go to plant rice or tend to their daily duties, the children, all of whom are seen always on their best behavior, play with their age group but are constantly under careful watch of the older ones.  Fights seldom occur and loud screams or cries are even rarer, as if they have been taught to be at harmony with their surroundings.
The Balinese have an interesting built in population-control mechanism through their naming structure.  In Bali, the first child is called Wayan, the second child is Made, the third child is Nyoman and the fourth, the last, is Ketut.  If one family should have more than four, traditionally, it’s back to Wayan, Made, Nyoman, and Ketut.  The culture discourages a family having more than four children.

Some say that the Balinese people have reached the height of self-contentment.  It is not an exaggeration when a Balinese is asked what heaven is like, he would say, “Just like Bali without the worries of mundane life”.  The Balinese want to live in Bali and be re-incarnated in Bali.  This does not imply that the Balinese are resistant to change.  Instead, they adapt change into their own system of living.

Religion

Bali Hinduism is a faith that has roots in Indian Hinduism and in Buddhism.  It adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenes peoples which inhabited the island around the first millennium BC.  This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things.  Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power which reflects the power of the gods.  A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil.

Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual and is less preoccupied with scripture, law and belief than Islam in Indonesia.  In their arts, traditional paintings faithfully depicting religious and mythological symbolism meets with foreign influences that have given birth to contemporary works.  They are free in their creative thinking yet strongly and distinctively Balinese.  Wood and stone carvings, gold and silver crafts parallel the development of paintings, gracefully evolving with external forces to enhance their characters.  In their dance, music and theater is laden with religious connotations again performed mostly to appease and to please the gods and the goddesses. 

Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behaviour.

Bali is part of the Republic of Indonesia.  It is one of the country’s 33 provinces with the provincial capital in Denpasar towards the south of the island.  Bali is home to a population of over 3 million, the vast majority of which are Indonesia’s small Hindu minority.  Bali is also the largest tourist destination in the country and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music.
Bali lies between Java in the West and Lombok in the East.  The island is 153 km long and 112 km wide (95 by 69 miles) with a surface area of 5,633 km².  It is famous for its beautiful landscape. A chain of six volcanoes, between 1,350 meters and 3,014 meters high, stretches from west to east. There are lush tropical forests, pristine crater lakes, fast flowing rivers and deep ravines and picturesque rice terraces and fertile vegetable and fruit gardens cover its alluvial plains.

The island is surrounded by coral reefs.  The beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black and grey volcanic sand.  Bali has two active volcanoes.  Mount Agung, Bali’s highest peak, rises to an impressive height of 3,142 m (10,308 feet).  It last erupted in March 1963.  An eruption around 30,000 years ago, from Mount Batur, Bali’s second active volcano was recoded as of one of the largest known volcanic events on Earth.  The mountainous region covers Bali from its centre to the eastern side of the island.  It is due to this terrain that the roads tend to follow the crests of the ridges across the mountains and the coast.