There are lot of dances and drama performances that you can enjoy in Bali, if you just know where and when they are staged. The best way to find a free traditional dance or drama performance is to find a calendar of cultural event. There is always a performance of traditional dance or drama in the anniversary of a big temple. So all you have to do is check a calendar of event, go to a temple at the date of the temple anniversary, and wait for the show.

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In 1915, a new genre of Balinese Gamelan was introduced in North Bali. This new composition is called Kebyar, involving a mixture of old and new melodies with new variations syncopation, so that it forms an entirely new genre of Balinese gamelan music. And by chance in the same year a young dancer from Tabanan, I Mario, saw that the dance which was accompanied by this new composition was performed rather badly and could not keep up with intricate variations, paraphrases, cadenzas and complicated rhythmic of the new composition. And saw the possibilities of a solo dance that can be matched with the new composition.

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Back in his home town in Tabanan, Mario worked out his ideas even without the help of the gamelan. The result of his arduous work was the highly demanding Kebyar dance. This is the only dance that is able to interpret the new gamelan composition in its spontaneous movements.

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Cak or Kecak is a contemporary Balinese dance, a secular dance that its origin can be traced to the sacred Sanghyang dance. This dance was first created by dancers in Bedulu village, Gianyar regency, at the request of Walter Spies. The group was commissioned to devise a new kind of dramatic performance which is based on Ramayana epic, accompanied solely by a chorus like that found in sacred Sanghyang Dedari performance. In that old sacred rite, the choral group consist of perhaps a dozen men, each making distinctive ‘chek, chek, chek’ sound that blend into a complex interlocking rhythmic pattern to assist the dancers in sustaining their trance condition.

This sacred dance, much developed, is the basis for Cak, a purely secular performance given almost exclusively for tourist. It is unthinkable for a Balinese to stage a Cak dance in his ceremony or for local consumption. The first simple version created in Bedulu achieved instant success and rapidly became very popular with tourist and other visitors to Bali. At heyday of Balinese tourism, several dozen professional groups perform regularly at the larger hotels and on special stages built for that purpose in their ward meeting halls.

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ON TOUR

ODALAN BALI: An Offering of Music & Dance by Gamelan Cudamani

USA/Canada (Oct-Nov ‘07)
www.cudamani.org

ÇUDAMANI, the 26-member music & dance ensemble from Bali, Indonesia presents ODALAN BALI featuring cutting edge new works as well as rare classical forms of Gamelan repertoire.

Bali is known worldwide for its music and dance. But in the village of Ubud, in Pengosekan a new music is forging ahead: Çudamani’s bold and cutting edge music compositions and dance choreography is created collaboratively and resonates with both traditional and contemporary audiences. Never performing solely to entertain tourists, the 26 member Çudamani ensemble will travel to USA and Canada this fall, to present it’s critically acclaimed production of “Odalan Bali: An Offering of Music and Dance” in twelve cities from Oct 18 – Nov 19, 2007.

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The third day of Classical Dance and Drama Performance (9/29/2007) presented three classic performances – another Leko performance from Badung regency, Gandrung from Denpasar municipality, and Cakepung from Karangasem regency. These three performances were staged indoor with better sitting place for the audience but lack of fresh air and dreary stage background and surrounding (performances in the first and second day were staged outdoor).

The first performance was Leko dance. Another Leko dance (the very same dance with the first performance in the first day of this show) but presented in different way, of course by another troupe. This time, the Leko dance was preceded by three preliminary dances. All these three preliminary dances were danced by very young dancers, their nervousness could clearly be seen in their face but they danced elegantly and manage to overcome their nervousness at the end.

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The second day of Classical Dance and Drama Performances (28/9/2007) was full to rim with various rare performances, from primitive and mystic Sanghyang Memedi trance dance to highly refined Legong Sudarsana, from grotesque and weird Baris Jangkang to elegant Rejang Renteng. Except for Legong Sudarsana, all these dances are extremely rare and can only be seen in special religious occasions.

The first performance was Sanghyang Memedi trance dance from Buleleng regency. This rare performance is only performed when a serious threat of plague strikes a village, this trance dance functions to ward off both the plague and evil spirits. The performance began in complete darkness, all light was out. A group of men sit cross-legged, sang a merry Sanghyang Song to invite the Memedi (supernatural beings which are well known for their playfulness) to enter the bodies of the mediums. No musical instrument accompanied the first song. After the first song was finished, the dancers sit cross-legged face to face in the center of the stage, a brazier was put between them. The chorus sang another Sanghyang song accompanied by musical instruments which were made of bamboo such as flute and tek-tekan (an instrument which consists of two bamboo sticks, hold in each hand).

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