Bondres: Bali Style of Comedy ( 1 )

Balinese people have a great sense of humour. This can be seen through their visual arts such as painting, sculpture and the performing arts; including the sacred puppet-shadow and mask dance. Clown characters that make jokes and help audiences understand stories are pre-eminent in all of the Balinese performing arts.

One of the most popular forms of performing arts that is dominated by or often focuses upon only humorous elements, is bondres, also known as topeng bondres. Topeng in Balinese means mask, while bondres refers to comic characters. Topeng bondres means an amusing form of mask used by dancers to make a comical appearance.

Bondres became known in the mid 1970s through the birth of a mask dance group called Topeng Carangsari, named after the village of Carangsari, North of Sangeh Monkey forest. Before this decade, the word 'bondres' was not know and still doesn't appear in today's dictionary of the Balinese language.

The Topeng Carangsari was the first group of mask-dancers to create the typical clown and they made the whole performance entertaining through their fresh, original, and smart jokes. Mask-dance used to be a sacred or serious dance, usually performed to accompany a ritual such as a temple festival or a particular stage in a cremation ritual. When the mask-dance transformed into a performing genre, like prembon, by performing particular stories such as the genealogy of a king or clan, they were hardly entertaining and quite boring. Suddenly, Topeng Carangsari lead by a talented dancer, I Gusti Ngurah Windia, came up with great format of mask-dance which is called topeng tugèk Carangsari. Tugèk means 'chubby beautiful lady'.

Topeng Tugèk Carangsari created three distinctive characters who are a chubby-cheeked lady, the hare lipped arrogant man, and a deaf old man. These three characters have similar important roles, which are to articulate the story and to make audiences laugh. Interestingly, these characters were all played by one dancer, Ngurah Windia, who also played other characters such as a priest and king's adviser or enemy. He played each role just by changing masks and voices accordingly. The total number of topeng dancers is six. Other characters are the princess and her follower, the king (played by a female dancer) and two of his male adjutants. They were quite a solid group.

JOGED - A FUN DANCE ( 2 )

Pengibing are attracted to dance, not just because they like it, but also because they are attracted by the charms of the joged. It is not unusual for one or two of the more adventurous young men to try to move his hips so he can touch the joged's hips, or even to steal a quick kiss. The more beautiful a joged dancer is, the greater the number of men volunteering!

Joged has a long history. In the kingdom era, early 19th century in Bali, the image of joged dancers was not very good. A performance was often arranged by kings to entertain their guests and the dancers were often low status women who could do little to object when asked by the king to please guests, whether romantically, sexually or in any other way.

Unfortunately, the negative image of joged dancers continues until the present time. After the reformation era, joged became a wild performance in terms of its hip shaking and erotic movements.

The distribution of a VCD of pornographic jogged, filmed using an amateur video in 2002, made the negative images of joged even worse. In this and in following years, images of joged caused public controversy; many people liked to watch a 'wild joged', while others accused it of not being in accordance with moral values.

Joged had usually been performed in the annual Bali Arts Festival but, as a consequence of the joged porn VCD, the performance disappeared from the 2004 Bali Arts Festival. Interestingly, at the national level, issues of erotic gyrations of the young dangdut singer Inul Daratista also sparked controversy, but it has been allowed and accepted by the dominant view as a type of performing art.

Ideas to promote joged came up and were welcomed as long as the dance developed without any tendency to sensual or sexual movement. A 'Festival ngibing' was held to improve the politeness and dancing ability of spectators when invited to dance. Additionally, the aesthetic aspect of the dance was emphasised.

After some efforts to minimise wild aspects of joged, it reappeared in the Bali Arts Festival 2005. As expected, it was in a more polite form though the tendency to the hot shaking hips and kiss-stealing has not disappeared at all.
Joged has often been performed to entertain a group of tourists with the main aim of creating a cheerful and fun occasion where tourists, male and female, can experience stretching their hands for a Balinese dance! The happy and entertaining quality of joged much depends upon where it is performed and who are the audience.

JOGED A -FUN DANCE ( 1 )

Balinese dance usually identifies sacred characters because most dances are performed in connection with religious rituals. However, there are also many secular types of dance that are done purely for entertainment and fun and there are others that are performed with the tourists in mind.

One of the most irreverent of Balinese dances is joged, which is also known as joged bumbung; referring to the instruments made of bamboo used to accompany it. In the Indonesian and Balinese languages, joged means to shake the hips. A joged dancer wears relatively unelaborate attire, comprising a kebaya and sarung. Her head, either with or without gelungan, is decorated with fresh and gold-plated flowers and she will be holding one or more fans while dancing. The fans are used to touch spectators in order to invite them to join the dance.
Unlike many other forms of dance, joged doesn't have any particular pattern of movement or special steps. It can start and finish at any time but 10 minutes is about the average time for each dancer. Great ability to improvise is a must for a joged dancer and although every dancer can do joged, the audience always expects to see an attractive and charming girl. She has to throw a lot of smiles to make her appearance attractive to the spectators, who are generally predominantly male!
Shaking the hips is one of the important characteristics of joged. The dancer does this in a seductive way in order to attract people to dance with her. An onlooker invited to dance is called pengibing and his dance is called ngibing. In one joged performance, there can be between 6 and 12 dancers and the show can take from 1 to 2 hours. Each girl appears once and invites from 4-8 spectators to dance but there is no set number for this.
A joged dancer usually comes to pick one of the bystanders after making a brief attractive dance movement. She selects one among many of usually rowdy watchers who raise their hands; this invited spectator won't necessarily know how to dance. Before dancing, the girl gives him a sash to be tied round his hips as a symbol of tying up his desires. While he tries to dance, his appearance will almost certainly look odd and this is a great source of amusement for the rest of the crowd. If you find yourself at a performance of joged bumbung and you don't fancy being dragged in to the centre, try to keep a good distance away because it is considered impolite to refuse the dancer's invitation.

THE KEBYAR

The renewal of the arts during the 30’s saw a surge in dance creativity, producing dances that are still the most popular in Bali : short but spectacular non-narrative dances inspired by the dynamism of the Gong Kebyar, a Gamelan orchestra originating from Northern Bali. The most famous are the Kebyar Duduk and Kebyar Trompong. These two dances were created by Mario, Balinese dance genius from this century. They are displays of suppleness and virtuosity, particularly the Kebyar Trompong, with the dancer playing the Trompong Instrument while dancing.

PENDET AND PENYEMBRAMA

These dances are performed to welcome visiting Gods, who are presented with offerings of flowers. Nowadays tourists are also showered with flowers.

THE TOPENG MASK

“Topeng” means mask and the mask dance related 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 counselor, and the “Topeng Dalem” – showing the king in all his glory with enough clowns to fill a circus.

THE GAMBUH

The Gambuh is the oldest classical dance in Bali, probably introduced at the time of the Majapahit culture. At a hauntingly slow tempo, the Gambuh dance drama tells episodes from the story of Panji’s search for his beloved in the kingdoms of Eastern Java. Now retained in only a few villages (notably Batuan and Pedungan), the Gambuh combines the best of both female and male Balinese dancing. An unusual feature is the use of long bamboo flutes instead of the complete set of Gamelan and Gongs.

THE LEGONG KRATON

The famous Legong Dance is the epitome of classical female Balinese dancing. A court dance, it was created in the 18^th century in the circles of the principality of Sukawati. According the legend, in the mid-18^th century, I Dewa Agung Made Karna who was meditating for 40 days and nights saw two dancing celestial angles. After his meditations, he passed on what he had seen and heard to his court dancers and musicians. The Sanghyang Legong was born.

Now including a variety of modern “free creation” (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 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.