MUSIC

THE DANCE
A FOCUS OF BALINESE LIFE

AI though there are dances of a purely demonstrative type that interpret the music, dancing in Bali cannot be considered as art separate from the theatre. In fact, the arts of the theatre are closely allied that there is no word in Balinese meaning " theatre Balinese would think of separating a show into its component parts or, on the other hand, think a show complete that did not contain music and dancing.

They divide their theatre rather according to the style of the story, which in turn dictates its music and the style of its technique. So, for example, the stories of the Ramayana take the shadow, or wayang wong form, the historical plays are the topeng, and love stories the ardja, and so forth. The following are the most important Balinese dances and plays:

LEGONG Music: full pelegongan orchestra. Dance-pantomime by two or three young girls playing Lasem and Semaradhana stories.

TJALONARANG Pelegongan with large flutes. A great exorcizing drama of the story of RangdaT'jalonarang, with dialogue, singing, and dancing.

BARONG PeJegongan (called bebarongan in this case). A dancepantomime of the adventures of a fantastic,holy animal, ending usually in a wild kris dance (rebong, ngurek) by men in trance. Also an exorcism.

DJAUK Pelegongan orchestra. Dance-pantomime by male masked actors. Danced in the legong technique, with any story. lvMasks do not represent special characters. Characteristic head-dress.

DJOGED Pedjogedan, an orchestra of the pelegongan type, but made of bamboo. A purely demonstrative, flirtatious dance without a story. Called gandrun, when performed by a boy in girl's clothes.

MENDET AND REJANG Orchestra: semar pegulingan or peIegongan. Two offering dances performed by elderly women and priests during temple feasts.

SANGHYANG Music : songs by a chorus of men and women. An exorcizing trance dance of the legong style performed by little girl mediums.

WAYANG KULIT Orchestra: gender wayang. Shadow-plays by puppets. Stories of the Wahabharata, Ramayana, and others. A storyteller chants recitative.

WAYANG WONG Gender wayang with drums and other percussions. Ramayana episodes by masked actors dancing and singing in classic Kawi.

BARIS Gong. Ritual war dances with spears (baris gede). There is a modernized version (baris pendet) in which heroic plays are performed in dance-pantomine with incidental dialogue and singing.

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