Bali is a paradise for them, who want to enjoy traditional dances, since Bali has various traditional dances to be enjoyed. From sacred dances to social dances or from male dances to female all are available in this island. The most well-known male dance is Baris. There are several types of Baris, for instance solo Baris, Baris Gede, Chinese Baris, etc which come from various regions.

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Tightly wound in golden costumes, quivering flowers atop tooled leather crowns, the dancers’ eyes dart from side to side, matching the energy in their hands as their fingers seem to shimmer in their joints. Balinese dance is perhaps one of the most well-known in the world.

Steeped in sacred religious rituals, dance is one way Balinese communicate with their gods and deified ancestral spirits. Dance (and theater and music) entertains both the mortal and divine audience. Both males and females dance and begin to study at a very young age. Towns are filled with dance studios (sanggar) where children go after school a few hours a week. Recitals and
performances at temple festivals are de rigeur , whether or not the piece is polished or not. The process of learning is almost as important as the finished dance and the entire community can get involved, from the teachers to the musicians to the vendors who feed the hungry students to the drivers who take them to the venue. Rituals are replete with children as young as 3 and 4 years old performing the sacred forms of Rejang Dewa and Baris Gede. The deities don’t mind that the feet are in the wrong position or if you look at your neighbor when you forget a step–it is dance as an act of devotion that is important here.

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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.

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There are several dances which are considered more sacred that others: Rejang, Pasutri, Mendet, Baris Gede and Topeng Pajegan. These are usually performed in the innermost courtyard (Jeroan) of temple. Part of what makes “sacred” is that there is little on no rehearsal of the forms; they are performed for the deities and it is not the compactness of the form that takes precedence in the ritual, but the actual presence of the form.

In the Samuan Tiga Temple of Bedulu, older women called Permas dance Rejang to help purify the temple area.

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Friends,

I happened to be in Batur two days ago where the Baris Gede troupes were rehearsing for the Purnama Kedasa festival happening next week. According to the dancers (and schedules can always change so be prepared for the unexpected), the ritual dances (Baris Dadap was the one I saw being rehearsed, a very poignant and slow Baris done by six dancers carrying a small half-canoe like object with spurs on one end; they were singing from a Kidung as well) will be done around 3 pm on:

April 10
April 12 (purnama/full moon)
April 13

It was lovely to see the younger generation seriously studying this simple and elegant dances.

As this is an odalan, full temple clothing is de rigeur.