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Balinese Dance

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Topeng Mask dance
The religious mask dance known as “Topeng” is often staged in the temples during religious ceremonies. The dance is a type of storytelling or drama dance accompanied with gamelan music. It is believed that there is a special kind of power in the mask, when an actor puts his mask on he enters in a form of trance.
The first character is the old ‘prime minister’ with a noble background, he wears a mask that covers the whole face and he do not talk at all. He is followed by servant characters or jesters that wear half-masks that do not cover the mouth, these characters move the action through speach while the fully masked high-rank character entertain with his mime and gesture..

Topeng Mask dance

Topeng Mask dance at Besakih temple

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Barong Kris Dance
Popular especially among tourists, Barong is probably the most well known dance from Bali. Barong, a mythical lion-like creature, represents the forces of right, his counterpart Rangda the evil widow (the queen of Leak) is a horrifying fanged mask with a long, protruding tongue. Their masks are believed hold the spirit within them and are worshipped on altars during temple festivals. In the statues of the temples Rangda is depicted as a fearsome personification of the evil, a mostly nude old woman, with long and unkempt hair, pendulous breasts, and claws.
After an overture from the gamelan orchestra, the performance begins with the dance of the Barong accompanied by two monkeys, next we are introduced to Dewi Kunti and his son Sahadewa. Siwa has cast a spell upon Dewi Kunti, he becomes angry with Sahadewa and she condemns him to death. Sahadewa is tied to a tree of the cemetery to be devoured by Durga, the goddess of death. However Siwa appears and gives to Sahadewa the immortality.
Durga, a long-haired and fearsome creature, appears and begins her dance of death to kill Sahadewa, but she can not harm the man who is protected by immortality. Durga realizes that she is defeated and agrees to be sacrified to achieve spiritual purification. But her servant Kalika, angry for the death of Durga, transforms herself into a wild boar, then into a Garuda bird, and finally into the powerful witch Rangda. At this point Sahadewa summons the Barong that engages a fierce battle with Rangda. The followers of the Barong join in the battle with their knives. Rangda causes the men to fall into trance, turning their knives on themselves. But the magic power of the Barong is stronger and the knives do not pierce the men's skin.
The performance ends when the priest arrives and sprinkles the men with holy water preventing them from falling into an irreversible trance. Finally with a few clacks of the Barong's jaws, the men are brought out of their trance.

Barong Kris Dance

Barong mask

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Kecak Dance
What makes the Kecak special is the accompanying music provided by the human voice of a choir of men sitting in concentric circles, swaying, standing up or lying prone as the story develops. Contrary to belief, the Kecak Dance is not particularly old, although the choir of men had its origins in a very ancient ritual which is still performed sometimes in villages to reach the state of trance to communicate with God or with the ancestors.
The accompanying chorus sits and chants maintaining a syncopated hypnotic tempo, while a fragment of the Ramayana is performed.
The divine prince Rama, legal heir to the throne of Ayodia, is forced to live in exile in the forest with his wife Sita and his younger brother Laksmana. The giant Rawana, king of demons, lusts after the beautiful Sita and devises a plan to abduct her. His prime minister Marica, disguised as a golden deer, lures Rama and Laksmana away from Sita, who is then kidnapped and taken to Rawana's palace in Alengka. Discovered the deception, Rama sets out to rescue Sita assisted by a huge army of monkeys who participate in the many battles that follow. Rawana at the end is killed and Sita is rescued.

Kecak Dance

Kecak Dance

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Sanghyang Legong Dance
Sanghyang dance has devolved from the religious function of maintaining the wealth and well being of the village. The dance is performed to drive evil spirits away and stop them from infest the community in the form of sickness or death.
It is believed that a divine spirit temporarily descends into the entranced dancers, two little girls who are always underage virgin child, considered holy. The two children dance a version of the Legong in perfect symmetry while their eyes are kept firmly shut. When the chanting stops, the girls are brought out of the trance by the priest who prays beside them and blesses them with holy water.
Sanghyang Jaran Dance (Fire Trance)
An entranced boy dances on a puppet horse (jaran) and behaving like a horse. He dances around a bonfire made from coconut shells. He is led by the music into the fire until the fire estinguishes.

Legong Dance

entranced dancing little girl

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Related Pages
- Balinese traditional landscape
- Religion in Bali
- Balinese Dance
- Balinese Temples

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Topeng Mask dance

Barong Kris Dance

Kecak Dance

Legong Dance

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