The Balinese Dances Kecak and Legong Dance
Kecak and Legong Dance
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- 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.
