THE BARONG

The Barong is the magical protector of Balinese villages. As “Lord of the forest” with fantastic fanged mask and long mane, he is the opponent of Rangda the witch, who rules over the spirits of darkness, in the never ending fight between good and evil. During the Galungan Kuningan festivals, the Barong (there are many types, including Barong Ket, Barong Macan and Barong Bangkal) wanders from door to door (nglawang) cleansing the territory of evil influences.

The fight between Barong and Rangda is also the topic of traditional narratives, usually performed in the temple of the dead. The most famous is the story of Calonarang, a widow from Jirah who furious because she cannot find a suitable husband for her daughter Ratna Manggali. All the eligible young men are scared of her black magic, so she gets revenge by wreaking havoc over the kingdom of Daha. The king, Erlangga, tries to punish her, but all his attempts fail. She kills all the soldiers he sends to destroy her. Then Rangda decides to destroy Daha. She summons all her disciples and in the still of night they go to the Setra Gandramayu cemetery, to present offerings of dead flesh to Durga, the goddess of death. Durga agrees to the destruction, although she warns the witch not to enter the city of Daha.

But the witch does not heed Durga’s advice and the kingdom is soon hit by grubug (a plague) and the villages quickly become cemeteries, people dying even before they can bury their dead. Corpses are scattered everywhere and the stench is unbearable.

The only person who can defeat the witch is Mpu Baradah. At the king’s request, Baradah sends his disciple Bahula to steal Calonarang’s magic weapon. Bahula pretends to ask for Ratna Manggali’s hand in marriage, and while the witch away, Bahula steals the magic weapon with the help of Ratna Manggali. Then he gives the stolen weapon to his teacher Baradah. The weapon turns out to be a manuscript containing the key to ultimate release (moksa) which has been used upside-down by Calonarang.

Baradah goes to Daha to challenge the witch. With the help of the Barong, she is defeated. Before being killed, she asks to be release from her curse and purified.

THE DANCES OF BALI

The Kecak “Cak-cak-cak “. This obsessive sound (resembling the chattering of monkey) 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, commonly called the “Monkey Dance” by tourists.

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 (Srilangka).

Rama allies himself with the monkeys and in particular with the monkey Hanuman.

They build a bridge and cross to the island. War ensues until finally Rama defeats Rahwana and is again united with his faithful wife.

MOVEMENT AND DANCE

Balance is important in Balinese dance. Normally, the dancer half-bends her legs, shifts her torso to one side, with the elbow raised and lowered in fluid movements to display the suppleness of her hands and fingers. Her 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 leg 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 (agem), such as the opening of the curtain or the holding of the cloth, evolves into another agem trough a succession of secondary gestures or tandang. The progression from one series to the other, and the change from the right to the left and vice-versa, is marked by short jerky emphasis called the angsel. The expression is completed by mimicry of the face ; the tangkep. Event the eyes dance, as can be seen in the Baris and Trunajaya dances.

DANCE AND RELIGION

Dance in Bali are both secular and religious, and are divided into three types : namely, wali, bebali and balih-balihan, depending on which part of the temple they are performed. Wali dances such as Baris Gede and Sang Hyang are the most sacred and are performed in the inner sanctum of the temple. Ceremonial in nature, bebali dances take place in the middle courtyard. Bebali dances are secular and are usually performed in the outer courtyard of the temple. However, this distinction not strictly adhered to the time; place and occasion may dictate the performance of a particular dance.

In Balinese society, therefore, dance perform many function:

• As a channel for visiting gods or demonic gods, the dancer acting as a sort of living repository. These trance dance include the Sang Hyang Dedari, with little girls in trance, and Sang Hyang jaran, a fire dance ;
• As a welcome for visiting gods, such as the Pendet, Rejang and Sutri dances ;
• As a entertainment for visiting gods, such as the Topeng and the Wayang.

In some of the dance, the role of dancing is so important that it is actually the key to any meaning to be found in the ritual. In wayang performance, the puppeteer is often seen as the “priest” sanctifying the holy water.

As well as their use in religious ceremonies, dance and drama also have a strong religious content. It is often said that drama is the preferred medium through which the Balinese cultural tradition is transmitted. The episodes performed are usually related to the rites taking place, during a wedding one performs a wedding story ; at a death ritual there is a visit to “hell” by the heroes. Clowns (penasar) comment in Balinese, peppering their jokes with religious and moral comments on stories whose narrative use Kawi (Old-Javanese).

HISTORY OF THE BALINESE DANCE

As a result of the Majapahit influences,the Indian epics have been woven in the rich tapestry of dances and the Javanese influence in the wayang has resulted in the recitation of long quotes from the ancient Javanese Kakawin poetry.

The 16th century brought Islamization to Java, resulting in much of the Javanese culture vanishing from its own land. However, it transformed in Bali, becoming classical Balinese culture. But this didn't live too long until colonization.

The rural courts were defeated and replaced with new lords of the land, shifting the center of creativity to village associations and to development of tourism. The Balinese cultural dance was in its hype of activities especially during the 30's and 50's.

The fertile decades helped survive the old narrative-led theater while letting loose solo dances almost everywhere, accompanied by a new, dynamic kind of music called gong kebyar.

This trend contiued in the 60's and 70's with the creation of colossal sendratari ballets, representing ancient Indian and Javanese stories adapted to the needs of modern audiences.

DANCE AND DRAMA

No visitor to Bali should leave the island without first seeing some of its diverse dances and drama. An important part of Balinese culture, dance and drama are regarded as expression of devotion to the gods and means of infusing the younger generation with old values. Most of today's Balinese dances originates from Java;only a handful are indigenous dances as the rejang, baris and pendet.

Historical records from the ninth century also named the wayang (puppet theatre) and topeng (mask dance) as the main entertainment of day.

Javanese influence from Java started infiltrating into Bali in the 14^th century when it was conquered by Gajah Mada, a power general of the Majapahit Empire. Court nobles and courtiers began to settle in Bali, bringing them with their dance and drama which was absorbed by the local population.