MUSIC

THE DANCE
A FOCUS OF BALINESE LIFE

In Java the fine dancer is a specialist attached to the court, often a prince himself; in Bali he is an ordinary villager with talent and skill who performs for the prestige of his community and for the entertainment of his neighbours. In Bali as well as in Java, it is a part of the education of a prince to dance, act, and play musical instruments, but in Bali a prince who organizes a theatrical group mingles with the common people and performs for their amusement. It is amusing to hear the Javanese and the Balinese deride each other's theatre: the Balinese think the dances of Java are meaningless, dull, and dead, but the Javanese are shocked at the " noisy " music of Bali and look upon their dancing as the product of rude and primitive peasants.

The Balinese have constantly injected new life into their theatre, in contrast to the Javanese, who, perhaps because of Mohammedan influence, have allowed the art to come to a standstill so that their acting suggests imitation of the movements of their archaic marionette shows (wayang purwa) . The Javanese actor cannot express emotion except by the most conventional gestures, and his face remains fixed and mask-like.

The Balinese act in an exactly opposite manner. They are gay, exuberant, and fond of gestures and slapstick comedy. Javanese masks are stylized, with long, sharp noses and slit eyes that eliminate all sense of the realism frowned upon by Islamism. The Balinese make masks of amazing expressiveness, often realistic in character, studies of standard types. I have seen a masked play with masterfully carved masks that were caricatures of Chinese, Arabs, and Europeans.

A theatrical group is organized by the villagers into a society along the same lines as a musical club. Contributions of money are made, instruments procured, and musicians trained. The future dancers are selected from the boys and girls of the community, taking into consideration their pleasing personal appearance, their physical fitness, and their potential talent for a particular. For that most typical of Balinese dances, the legong for example, the little girls chosen should be from five to eight years of age, and if they can be found to look alike, it is n for granted that they will make a very fine legong.

When the dancers are assembled, a teacher is called to train them. He is generally a former great dancer or an orchestra leader who knows the dance to the last detail. The most elementary routines are taught at first, and repeated until the dance has one into the pupil." The teacher is often assisted by his more accomplished pupils, slightly older dancers from other villages method of training consists in guiding the movements c pupil, leading them energetically by the wrists until by sheer repetition the pupils acquire the " feeling " of the gesture and can do the movements by themselves. At the beginning the teacher chants the tunes, but formal rehearsals with the full orchestra are held later.

The teacher works tirelessly for weeks and months at a time it is typical of Bali that he is not necessarily paid for his efforts. If he receives a monetary reward for his work, it is insignificant and is meant rather as expense money while in a strange ,community. Instead of a fee, he is lavishly feasted and treated as an honoured guest.

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