MUSIC

THE DANCE
A FOCUS OF BALINESE LIFE

If his home is in another village, he is lodgrd in the bandjar where he teaches and at the end of every rehearsal is presented with trays of Chinese cakes, coffee, cigaretter and betel-nut. It is not unusual for a famous teacher like : Ida Bagus Boda of Den Pasar to be called to give the finishing lies to a well-trained group. The various styles of teaching are so definite that it is not difficult for a Balinese connoisseur to guess the teacher of a given legong.

Physical training plays an important part in the dancer's education; while the pupil learns the elemental sequence of the dance, the basic steps, and general movements of the arms, he exercises regularly to acquire suppleness of every muscle and control over each member until his body becomes practically double-jointed. The legs, however, are used with a minimum of importance in the dance, except for locomotion, and in certain sitting dances like the kebiyar are not used at all.

It is said that such movements are possible only because of the extreme youth of the dancers. It is true that a legong dancer retires at twelve or thirteen, or perhaps continues in another type of dance, and that a fully grown girl is often considered too big to dance, but there are old women who are fine dancers and a good baris performer is usually a man past middle age. A solo dance often lasts more than an hour, and even children can dance incessantly for long periods of time without showing traces of exhaustion.

This resistance often amazes travellers, but the Balinese explain that the dancer is unconscious of the real work and falls into a sort of self-induced trance where only the rhythm of the dance exists, and the dancer then moves in a world where fatigue is unknown. Legong dancers are very popular in the community; they are looked upon as people out of the ordinary and are exempt from heavy work. They have many suitors, and a prince frequently marries a legong dancer as soon as she becomes of age.

When a society has enough money for costumes and the dancers are ready to make a public appearance, the village association, on an auspicious day, gives an inauguration festival (malaspasin) . The costumes are blessed before they can be worn for the first time, and the group makes offerings to launch the new organization successfully. An actor, a dancer, or a story-teller undergoes the same ceremony by which a priest or magician adds power to his soul.

In the case of a dancer the ceremony is a magic purification and beautification in which a priest with the stem of a flower inscribes magic syllables on the face, head, tongue, and members of the future dancer to make him attractive to the eves of his public. It is not only on this occasion that dancers pray for success; before every performance they make small offerings to the deities of the dance, Dewa Pergina, and to the nymphs of heaven, the dedari Supraba and Tilotama.

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