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MOVEMENT IN BALINESE DANCE
The typical posture in Balinese dance has the legs half-bent,
the torso shifted to one side with the elbow heightened and
then lowered in a gesture that displays the suppleness of
the hands and fingers. The torso is shifted in symmetry
with the arms. If the arms are to the right, the shifting
is to the left, and vice-versa.
Apart from their costumes, male and female roles can
be identified mostly by the accentuation of these movements.
The women's legs are bent and huddled together, the feet
open, so as to reveal a sensual arching of the back.
The men's legs are arched and their shoulders pulled up,
with more marked gestures, giving the impression of power.
Dance movements follow on from each other in a
continuum of gestures with no break and no jumping (except for
a few demonic or animal characters).
Each basic posture (agem), such as the opening of
the curtain or the holding of the cloth, evolves into another
agem through a succession of secondary gestures or tandang.
The progression from one series to the other, and the change
from right to left and vice versa, is marked by a short jerky
emphasis called the angsel. The expression is completed by
mimicry of the face: the tangkep. Even the eyes dance, as can
be seen in the baris and trunajaya dances.
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