Barong Landung

Barong Landung is different from other Barong dances in Bali. In Barong Landung, the two dancers do not take the figure of animals, but of the two giant puppets, a male and a female. (Landung means tall).

The male giant barong is called Jero Gede (big person) and the female giant barong is called Jero Luh (female person). Each barong is played by a man. Jero Gede has a frightening black face, while Jero Luh has a comical white or yellow face. Together they perform a comic, opera sung in Balinese, with a story usually taken from history.

Barong Landung is derived from the folktale. On Nusa Penida Island, once lived an incestuous giant demon, Jero Gede Mecaling. One day, he went to Bali Island, followed by a horde of devils. He landed in South Bali in the form of a barong and waited there while the devils went inland to destroy. The people frightened and consulted a priest who told them to create another barong like Jero Gede Mecaling to scare away the demon. The people then made a big barong and succeeded in frightening the giant demon back to Nusa Penida. Since then, the barong has been used to exorcise illness and evil spirits.

Barong Landung is usually performed on Galungan days, around Denpasar and Serangan Island. In Southern Bali, Barong Landung is accompanied by smaller puppets which play the roles of prince and princess.

Oleg Tambulilingan Dance

Oleg Tambulilingan Dance was created by I Mario of Tabanan in 1952. The dance was originally performed by one girl and called Oleg which means the swaying of a dancer. Later, a male part was added to make it a duet, and the dance had a new theme portraying two bumblebees (Tambulilingan) flirting in a flower garden.

The female dancer enters the stage first, circling the stage in tight quick steps, trailing a long silk scarf. The dancer portrays the full range of female emotions: seductiveness, scorn, teasing, moodiness, naughtiness, happy. The female dancer first pretends to snub the male, but he is finally able to win her love by various tactics.

In one sequence, the female dancer dances in the seated position while she sensuously sways and waves her hands. The male dancer circles her with a manly pace, his head cocked, feeling his power over her. They come close, only to swirl apart again. Oleg Tambulilingan dance ends with a love dance of the two bumblebees.

Sanghyang Jaran Dance

Sanghyang Jaran dance is performed by a man dancer who tramples on flaming coals riding a hobby horse made out of palm leaves. The red hot coals are scattered, and the dancer trances like a horse, snorting and neighing, seemingly unscathed by his torment.

The dance is believed to have the power to invite the gods or sacred spirits to enter the body of the dancers and put them in a state of trance. It dates back to the ancient Pre-Hindu culture, a time when Balinese people strongly believed that a dance could cure sickness and disease. Sanghyang Jaran dance is usually performed in the fifth or sixth month of Balinese calendar as it is believed that during these months, Balinese people are vulnerable to all kinds of illnesses.

Calon Arang Dance

Calon Arang Dance refers to the struggle between Rangda (Calon Arang) and the great king Airlangga. Calon Arang was a widow of Girah who gave birth to a daughter in the jungle. Her daughter grew up to be the famed beauty Ratna Menggali. Calon Arang wanted her daughter to marry a prince from Airlangga's palace. However, no prince came along. Infuriated by this, Calon Arang learned the art of black magic and practiced it against the kingdom, causing many people to die.

When the king Airlangga heard of the epidemic in Girah, he consulted his high priest, Mpu Bharadah. The priest then sent his son to propose Ratna Menggali. Calon Arang was pleased, the curse ended, and the couple wed.

Calon Arang inscribed her black magic secret on a lontar (palmleaf book). One day, her son-in-law found it and gave it to his father. When Calon Arang found out that Mpu Bharadah had learned her secrets, she was furious and declared war upon him. The priest had no choice but to fight and, in a deadly struggle, destroyed the widow by casting a spell. Before she died, Calon Arang asked forgiveness. Mpu Bharadah forgave her and showed her the way to heaven.

Before Calon Arang Dance is performed by midnight, the audiences are gathered, listening to the Calon Arang music, played by a full legong orchestra amplified with large bamboo flutes. Offerings are made earlier and consultations are held so as not to offend Rangda (Calon Arang) and to determine whether it is safe to perform the dance which begins after midnight and lasts until dawn.

Cendrawasih Dance

Cendrawasih is a beautiful bird that has lovely brown and yellow feathers. This Cendrawasih dance has meaning that we have to preserve and protect scarce fauna in order not to be extinct, and its population remain maintain. This dance also describes liveliness of cendrawasih bird eager to play, chasing, in its community.
This dance is creation of one famous Balinese(Indonesia) lady known as N.L.N. Swasthi Wijaya Badem for festival held by Walter Spies Organization in 1988.

Legong Keraton Dance

In legends, Legong is the heavenly dance of divine nymphs. Of all classical Balinese dances, it remains the quintessence of femininity and grace. Girls from the age of five aspire to be selected to represent the community as Legong dancers.

Connoisseurs hold the dance in highest esteem and spend hours discussing the merits of various Legong groups. The most popular of Legongs is the Legong Kraton, Legong of the palace. Formerly, the dance was patronized by local rajas and held in e puri, residence of the royal family of the village. Dancers were recruited from the aptest and prettiest children. Today, the trained dancers arestill- very young; a girl of fourteen approaches the age of retirement as a Legong performer.

The highly stylized Legong Kraton enacts a drama of a most purified and abstract kind. The story is performed ' by three dancers: the condong, a female attendant of the court, and two identically dressed legongs (dancers),who adopt the roles of royal persons. Originally, a storyteller sat with the orchestra and chanted the narrative, but even this has been refined away in many Legongs. Only the suggestive themes of the magnificent gamelan gong (the full Balinese orchestra) and the minds of the audience conjure up imaginary changes of scene in the underlying play of Legong Kraton.

The story derives from the history of East Java in the 1 2th and 1 3th centuries: when on a journey the King of Lasem finds the maiden Rangkesari lost in the forest. He takes her home and locks her in a house of stone. Rangkesari's brother, the Prince of Daha, learns of her captivity and threatens war unless she is set free.

Rangkesari begs her captor to avoid war by giving her liberty, but the king prefers to fight. On his way to battle, he is met by a bird of ill omen that predicts his death. In the fight that ensues he is killed. The dance dramatizes the farewells of the King of Laserm as he departs for the battlefield and his ominous encounter with the bird. It opens with an introductory solo by the condong. She moves with infinite suppleness, dipping to the ground and rising in one unbroken motion, hertorso poised in an arch with elbows and head held high, while fingers dance circles around her wrists. Slowly, her eyes focus on two fans laid before her and, taking them, she turns to meet the arrival of the legongs.

The tiny dancers glitter and dazzle. Bound from head to foot in gold brocade, it is a wonder the legongs can move with such fervent agitation. Yet, the tight composure of the body, balanced by dynamic directive gestures-the flash of an eye, the tremble of two fingers blend in unerring precision.After as hort dance, the condong retires, leaving the legongs to pantomime the story within the dance. Like a controlled line of an exquisite drawl ing, the dancers flowfrom one identity intothel next without disrupting the harmony of t dance. They may enter as the double image one' character, their movements marked tight synchronization and rhythmical verve Then they may split, each enacting a separate role, and come together in complementary halves to form a unified pattern, as in the plan ful love scene in which they "rub noses The King of Lasem bids farewell to his queen, and takes leave of Rangkesari. She repels his advances by beating him with he fananddepartsin anger. lt is then the condong reappears as a bird with wild eyes fixed upon the king. Beating its golden wings to a strange flutter of cymbals, it attacks the king in a vain attempt to dissuade him from war. The ancient narrative relates: ". .. a black bird came flying out of the northeast and swooped down upor the king, who saw it and said, 'Raven, hoi come you to swoop down on me? In spiteo; all, 1 shall go out and fight. This 1 shall do, oh raven!... With the king's decision understood the dance may end; or the other legong may return on stage as his prime minister, and shimmering unison, they whirl thefinal stepsi: war.

Pendet Dance

Pendet is a traditional Balinese dance, in which offerings are made to purify the temple or theater as a prelude to ceremonies or other dances. Pendet is typically performed by young girls, carrying bowls of flower petals, handfuls of which are cast into the air at various times in the dance. Pendet can be thought of as a dance of greeting, to welcome the audience and invite spirits to enjoy a performance.

Pendet is the presentation of an offering in theform of a ritual dance. Unlike the exhibition dances that demand arduous training, Pendet may be danced by everyone: male and female pemangkus, women and girls of the village. It is taught simply by imitation and is seldom practiced in the banjars. Younger girls follow the movements of the elder women who recognize their responsibility in setting a good example. Proficiency comes with age, and often, t is the grandmothers who possess the most Man of the grouli. As a religious daqce, Pendet is usually performed during temple ceremonies.

All dancers carry in their right hand a small offering of incense, cakes, water vessels, or flower formations set in palm leaf With these they dance from shrine to shrine within the temple. Pendet, thus, may be performed as a serial and continue intermittently throughoin,the day and late into the night during temple feasts.

In 1968, a huge religious procession in Tabanan produced many versions of Pendet. One was danced by a member of the household, who presented the family's offerings in a slow Pendet before the approaching wave of thousands of people. In larger villages, a selected group of young girls, bare-shouldered and formally dressed in wraps of gold cloth, carried silver bowls of flowers as they danced a more elaborate Pendet, choreographed in interweaving rows and files. When the procession settled before a small temple, old women dressed in ordinary clothes began to dance still another form of Pendet. They carried no offerings but moved feverishly as if possessed by the music.

Recently , Pendet was introduced to open the Legong. Here, the young girls are accomplished members of a dance troupe, and their movements are coordinated and exact. Toward the finish of the dance, the girls make praying gestures and throw flowers to the audience-a welcome and blessing to the public.

Dramatari Arja

Art performances in Bali are a media that can deliver messages and information to the community. This we can see from the sort of performance that entertains us, especially performances that has a dramatic story. The information and messages can be delivered to the audience in the dialogs between the dancers, along with the messages of the story. One of the famous drama dances in Bali is the Arja Drama dance (Dramatari Arja).

The Arja is a drama dance where the dialogs are sung. The word arja is though to come from the world “Reja’ (comes from the Sanskrit Languange), which means beautiful ar contains beautiful ness, is reckoned to apper in 1825. the source of the main story of the Arja drama dance come from panji, folktales, Mahabhrata, Ramayana and group of other stories that are well known ro the community. The Arja always brings you the characters of ; Inya, Galuh, Desak Rai, Limbur, Liku, Penasar, Mantri Manis, Mantri Buduh, and the two royal servants Punta and Kartala. In the Arja drama dance, the Gamelan orchestra that is normally used is the Geguntangan, which has sweet and gentle sound to increase the beauty ness of the songs that are sang by the dancers.

Ciwa Nataraja

In hindu myhtology, Siwa Nataraja is a form of the God Siwa, who is known as the king of dance. As the highest dancer. Siwa dances continuously to maintain rhythm and balance in the cosmos. The movements in this dancing are so powerful that it creates and combines this world realm.

The form of Siwa Nataraja has been transformed into a dance by N.LN Swasthi Widjaja Bandem. It is danced by nine female dancers, one of whom portrays Siwa Nataraja while the other eight represent the eight magical powers of Siwa. Incoporating elements, it is now an important dance of indonesia Arts School (STSI) Denpasar.

The Puspanjali Dance

“A Guest is a King” is a common saying meaning that we respect people who come to visit is. We say it to remind ourselves to always be polite and foster a good realitionship with guests. There are many ways that we can give a good impression to guest : through friendly greetings. Offering meals, or even putting an a dance performance. And one particularly apprppriate dance for entertaining guest is the Puspanjali Dance.

The Puspanjali Dance is often performed to greet guest and open formal functions. Puspa means flower, and anjali means honouring, so the Puspanjali dance is a form of honouring, symbolized with a flower and performed with soft, swift, dynamic movements. The Puspanjali is dance by female,up to 5 or 7 people. It was created in 1989 by N.LN Swasthi Widjaja Bandem, inspired by the Rejang Dance, a ceremonial dance performed to honor the Gods.

The baris kalemat dance

To the balinese, respecting god is not just done through religious rituals, but also can be done through the arts of dancing. And this is the reason why balinese dances have survived until today.

These dance activities which are a part of religious rituals are done almost throughout bali, accordingly to the various local traditions, whether they are up in the mountains, village, or down at the coastal areas. For instance, the coastal area is always related to fishing, and the custom dance that relates to fishing is the Baris Kalemat dance.

The baris kalemat dance is one form of baris dances that are performed only for religious purposes. The baris kalemat dance is performed by fisherman. The dancers will use tools such as oars and move them impersonating a fisherman rowing hid boat into sea to catch fish. Like most ritual Baris in Badung is categorized as a sacred dance performed by male dancers.

Gebug ende

In a performance, it is common to combine. 2or more elements from diffrerent kinds of arts, whether as a unit or just as an accoumpaniment. For example, dances combined with literature, music with literature, dance with music, etc. There are also some combinations that are inspired from elements that are not related to art, such as acrobatics, magic, martial arts, etc. In balinese dances, elements have been combined in these ways ever since the distant past until the present day. One example of this is the gebug ende.

Gebug ende is an example od a dance that combines dancing and a martial art that is very ppopular in karangasem. Gebug ende is unique. It is performed by men as a competition. Each dancer will have their own rattan whip with which to hit their opponent and a shield to defend themselves. (Gebug = hit, Ende = Shield). This dance was originally used ritual ceremonies to call the rain, but now it has developed and became an inspiration in the cretion of several new dances about heroism.

The Margapati Dance

Many stories about jungles have been created, both for many children and adults, because jungles are known to ne the biggest place for animals and plants. Of all the beasts that live in jungle, the lion is considered the strongest and has the title of “the kong of beast”, every jungle story will always have a lion as the leader of all the other beasta. We don’t exactly know why the lion is always picked as the leader, but maybe it has to do with its muscular body, agile movements, astrong claws, sharp teeth, loud roar, and a mane that gives this predator an air of authority.

The lion as a symbol of strenght inspired I Nyoman Kaler to create a dance known as the Margapati dance in 1942. the world margapati comes from the word “Mrga” tthat means king. This dance illustrates the movements of a lion roaming in the jungle hinting for prey. With its strong and dynamic movements, the Margapati dance is categorized as dance for men, but a lot of female dancers also perform it. The dnce id performed by a single dancer who can master the whole stage and is accompained by the powerful kekebyaran gamelan orchestra to strengthen the image of the character.

Tari Tani (Farm Dance)

Farm fields in bali are a never-ending source of inspiration in art. Their natural beauty and unique terrcing (lands which are made into levels to avoid erosion) are now often captured in paintings and photographs, the atmosphere of the villages is also often heard in lyrics in songs. All this is a way in which artist express their admiration and gratefulness for God’s creations.

Many of the farmer’s activities are poured into works art. For example the tari tani, a dance that tells the story of a farmer’s life, starting from processing the land, planting rice, maintenance, chasing off the birds, and harvesting. These activities are poured into a dance created by I Wayan Beratha in 1957. this dance which is performed by men and women is a kind of dance where most of the movements imitates the real movements in a “wantah” manner (like a pantomime, imitating the real movementa without adding too much embelishment).