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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Pangerebongan is a traditional ceremony that aims to protect people especially for them who live around of Kesiman village from disease, disasters, and others bad things. Most people of Kesiman pu much faith in the efficacy of Pegerebongan ceremony that is the reason why Pangerebongan is held. Other people do not know this reason. Surprisingly, they, who do not know the reason, keep this ritual alive by come and join to this ritual.

Rangda

Some people who know the myth clearly enough said that the story began from a long time ago. Once upon a time “Ratu Gede Mecaling” with his followers which are formed as Rangda, Barong, and others form came to Kesiman Village. Ratu Gede who is described as big, with dark skin and canines commanded his followers to spread pestilence to this village.

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As a result, from Chinese immigration to Bali there are some numbers of assimilation products (for the former explanation see on the previous posting). “Uang kepeng” or Chinese coin and ceramics have been discussed in previous article; the others product of the assimilation between Chinese and Balinese culture are Chinese Baris Dance and Pelinggih Ratu Subandar.

Baris Cina / Chinese Baris dance.

One of famous Balinese dance is Baris or warrior dance. There are many kinds of Baris and Chinese Baris is one of them. This dance appeared for the first time in Semawang and Blanjong (Sanur) and it still exists there until now. Semawang and Blanjong were known as harbor where Chinese and other traders hang down.

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Poleng, or chessboard pattern of alternating black and white squares is surely the most distinguished motif of Balinese cloth. One can hardly miss the presence of a poleng cloth around him due to the striking contrast of colors used in the motif. But poleng is not made for attracting attention of the onlookers, it express Balinese point of view towards life.

Since Poleng is the national color of Bali, it can be found virtually everywhere in the island. Poleng clothes are usually wound round big tree trunks, big rocks, statues and shrines. Banners, flags, and umbrellas that are used in a procession of the ceremony sometimes made of poleng clothes. Poleng clothes are also used by the Balinese traditional security forces (pecalang), poleng cloth is considered to be an obligatory part of pecalang outfits. There is also a warrior dance (baris) which is called Baris Poleng. As its name suggests, the dancers’ apparels consist predominantly of poleng clothes.

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Memento mori, a Latin phrase that may be freely translated as “Remember that you are mortal,” “Remember you will die,” or “Remember your death”. It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose, which is to remind people of their own mortality. Although Balinese culture has no such genre in their art, but the message of memento mori clearly interwoven in all kind of Balinese artistic products even further penetrates to the Balinese daily life.

Balinese philosophy borrows perfectly the gloomy Buddhist philosophy of life and inevitability of death. As Buddhist, Balinese believe all living things are suffering. Life is a suffering. We try so hard to stay alive, enrich ourselves but at the end, all will be swept away by death, an irony of life. As for inevitability of death, the basic principle of rwa bhineda explains everything. Life and death is one, one that is born will surely die. Balinese said that when they are born they bring four treasures: happiness, sadness, sickness, and death.

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A piece of land is not “just a piece of land” for Balinese, there is something in the land or place that is revered and sometimes feared by them. something unknown, mystical but produces significant effect to Balinese everyday life even to the Balinese community since Balinese believe that mystical realm cannot be separated with the physical world.

The concept of rwa bhineda, two (opposing yet depending on each other) force of nature underlies the distinction made in Bali between the places considered tenget or angker, i.e. uncanny, magically dangerous, possessed by evil spirit or bhuta kala and places that are suci, nirmala, i.e. pure, clean, holy or consecrated by man with divine help. The implementation of the distinction of these two kinds of places can be found in the outline of a Balinese house compound or village.

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