Baris Dance (Warrior Dance)

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 by ablteam

According to Covarrubias no dance in the world can be manlier than baris. Baris, a traditional war dance, typifies the strong elegance of the male and is the source of for all masculine dances. The Baris dance can be performed by men in pairs of four, eight, sometimes even tens; the accompanying gamelan is the gamelan gong or gamelan gong kebyar. The word “baris” means a line or military formation, in the sense of a line of soldiers, and referred to the warriors who fought for the kings of Bali. Originally, Baris was performed as a religious ritual. The dancer may bear a kris, a spear, a bow, or other weapons, depending on the variant performed. Baris has an exorcizing character and is invariably danced at important temple ceremony. The special characteristics of baris are its elegance moves and complex facial expressions. The movement of baris is synchronized with the tempo of the music and Baris‘s facial expressions show the varieties of soldier mood such as admiration, wonder, surprise, rage, pleasure, tenderness and love.