Here is an interesting excerpt on legong dance and its survival which is taken from a thesis entitled “The role of Westerners in the conservation of the Legong dance” by Stephen Davies.

The Legong dance achieved its modern form in the 1920s and 30s. Yet it was under threat from the outset. A new type of orchestra, gong kebyar, was invented in the north about 1918. It became increasingly popular and soon spread to other parts of the island. It did so at the expense of the pelegongan or semar pegulingan orchestras that accompanied the Legong dance. By the mid-1930s, many of these older orchestras were melted down and recast as gong kebyars (Seebass 1966). Even as late as 1966, the famous pelegongan orchestra of Binoh was threatened with the same fate (Dr. Wayan Sinti, pers. comm.). In the early 1990s, only a “handful” (Tenzer 1991) of pelegongan or semar pegulingan orchestras survived. And while the Legong dance can be and usually now is accompanied by gong kebyar, that orchestra’s weightier tone and different tuning are universally deemed unsuited to the dance.

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The closing of Sanur Village Festival was given a fresh nuance with the performance of Grup Gedebong Goyang (Swaying Banana Tree Trunk Sister or G3). Powered by Rucina Ballinger, Kerry Pendergrast, Suzan Kohlik and Antonella De Santis, the G3 rocked the stage with hilarious performance, sending barrage of jokes and arising laughter of the spectators.

Accompanied by Band Satya Hati which belongs to Bali Hati Foundation, the G3 began their performance by singing Joni Agung’s Balinese reggae song, entitled Melalung (Naked) which mocks the anti-pornography issue. In par with melalung other songs in Balinese and Indonesian also kept the audience attention with their uproarious parody and of course with their fluency in Balinese language and Bahasa Indonesia.

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