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THE DANCES OF BALI - Part 1
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 voices,
their hands raised to the sky and bodies shaking in unison.
This is the unique Kecak, perhaps the most popular of
all Balinese dances.
Visitors rarely leave the island of Bali without first seeing
a kecak performance. Originally the kecak was just an element
of the older Sang Hyang trance dance. It consisted of a male
choir praying obsessively to the souls of their ancestors.
At the initiative of painter Walter Spies, this religious
choir was transformed into a dance by providing it with a
narrative. The ballet is the Ramayana epic. The prince Rama,
his wife Sita and his brother Laksmana are exiled in the
middle of the forest. Rama goes hunting a.golden deer at
the request of his wife, who saw the strange animal and has
asked him to catch it. While he is away, she is kidnapped by
Rahwana and taken to the latter's island kingdom of Alengka.
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 until finally Rama defeats Rahwana and
is again united with his faithful wife.
THE LEGONG KRATON DANCE
The dynamic Legong Dance is the epitome of classical female
Balinese dancing. A court dance, it was created in the 18th
century in the circles of the principality of Sukawati.
Now including a variety of modern "free creations" (tari lepas),
the legong is usually the first dance taught to beginners.
Months of training are needed to master the perfect mix of
posture (tangkep), movements and mimicry. Three dancers in
glittering costumes - one condong lady-in-waiting and two
princesses whose roles change according to the narrative -
usually perform it. The ancient legong used to have a storyteller's
accompaniment, but these days they are only dance performances.
THE MASK DANCE
This mask dance relates the tales of Balinese and Javanese
ancestors returning temporarily to inhabit the mask.
Nowadays, the main stories, with their princes and clowns,
are preceded by a set of solo mask dances for men - 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 counsellor, and the "topeng dalem"
showing the king in all his glory with enough clowns to
fill a circus.
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