In Bali, no temple festival or ceremony is complete without accompanying entertainment for the God, attending guest and local people. Temple anniversaries are occasion for all-night drama and dance performance. This are found nowhere else in the world.
The basic accompaniment to any such performance is provided by the local gamelan orchestra, a group of bronze instruments, met allophones, tunes gongs, cymbal and hand drums. The instruments are generally owned by the village, as they are extremely expensive. They are stored at the village’s meeting hall (Bale Banjar).
In times gone by Balinese music was passed from generation to generation purely by memory recently Balinese music has been written down or recorded on audio or videotape. Each particular dance and dramatic performance has its own special combination of instrument to built the nature of the ceremony. Melodious bamboo flutes (Suling), reedy four stringed, violin like instrument (rebab) and twinging jew’s-harp-like instrument (genggong) are all used to provide their own special effect.
Legong keraton
Perhaps the most exquisite of Balinese dance is the classical Legong, a dance traditionally performed as entertainment for the king. The young femaleare wrapped from head to ankle in hand painted gold brocade, with glitter gold and sparkling mirrors and are topped with trembling frangipani flowers. As they glide and sway they pantomime an ancient story about King Lasem and his unsuccessful girls. The dancers seem to be essence of all that is feminine and beautiful.
Baris
As a dance of war. The Baris is strongly masculine and yet also display at the same time an intense sensitivity of feeling in its myriad moods and expressions. The Baris Gede is a sacred dance that is usually performed at temple ceremonies. Ten or more dancers take part, they wear elegant head dressed and bear spiked shild or sword or lances. They dance in line, posing aggressively as agroup before attacking each in simulated battle.
Kecak
This is relatively new dance has been created from a much older trance dance called sanghyang that features a males chrous that chants rhythmically. Usually the chorus consist of over 100 men who provide the orchestral accompaniment with complex and varied chants their swaying movements. They create a living circular stage for the anactment by dancers an expert from the well knownfrom Hindu epic poem. The Ramayana. Flickering torches provide an eerie lighting.
Topeng
The Topeng or mask dance, is one of the most demanding dramatic form that an artist can practice. In one form a single dance perform a series of several acts, each depicting a different set of movements and mannerism. Another form of Topeng is performed by a group of men. The action is based upon ancient literature and history, combined with tropical events, humour, and generous amounts of slapstick. The character are caricatures of all this and folly.
Sanghyang
Sanghyang trance dances were performed only as religious ceremonies that exorcise spirit that couse problems and to promote peach and health within the village. They only have recently been performed to the public for entertainment. In this dance specially selected boys and girls are broughtin to trance by a group of women who sing a special, respective song variety, called Sanghyang Dedari (angel), involves very young girls who have never dance before. Yet they give skilful performance of a sort of legong dance. In Sanghyang jaran (horse), the man in trance ride a kind of hoby horse over red hot coals, while exhibiting characteristic horse like sounds and movements.
Barong And Rangda
The endless methaphysical battle between good and evil is symbolically re-enacted by two weird characters, barong and rangda, who by their very performed reinforce the magic power of the village and restore the balance between these two contrary force. It is strange creature that dance by two man inside a hightly decorated framework that represents a stylized animal, often a kind Chinese lion. Barong adversary is Queen of the wicthes, un ugly creature with a long tongue, fangs and pendulous breasts. The two opposite forces that barong and rangda portray as they fight is anought to send the followers of the barong into trance as they try to attack Rangda with their keris . But Rangda’s magical power turns their swords away and toward themselves. Barong power saves them from harm and the result is draw.
Arja and Drama Gong
A performance of arja, Balinese folk opera, can hold and entire village engrossed from late evening until nearly sunrise. Love stories drawn from the classics of the of the ancient kingdom of Java are re-enacted with all of the tragicomicand romantics ingredients guaranteed to appeal. The Royal characters move in a slow stylised dance and sing and talk in hight falsetto using hight Balinese which is translated into the commonlanguage and which is much more easily understood by the audience.
Drama Gong is developed of Arja that performed by actors and musical group without dance and has recently becom popular in the community.
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