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THE DJANGER We never discovered the purpose behind the absurd costumer perhaps it was only fun, perhaps to caricature Europeans. Bu' the insanity of the costume was surpassed by that of the performance: to the serpentine melody of a bamboo flute and the syncopated beat of drums and gongs, the girls sang nonsensical songs about flowers, rice cakes, and so forth, many words without meaning, simply to create rhythm: “ djange - djange - djangerere . . .” while their hands flew, the flowers on their head shook, and their eyes snapped in unison with their necks The boys, the ketjak, swayed and shook, shouting: “ Ketjakk~tjakkctjak - tjak! tjipo - oh! tjipo - oh! a-ha-aha! “ much in the manner of a college yell, but growing faster and faster, underlining the tempo of the gongs and drums. The dance master darted wild glances in all directions with gestures of anger and astonishment, moving like a frantic automaton. The whole moved with the rhythm of a locomotive at full speed - Balinese jazz that intoxicated both performers and audience in a spell of syncopated movement. At calmer moments two girls stepped out of the ranks and danced around the dance master, who registered amazement when the girls made love to him. Then the most incongruous nonsense ensued: like a flash, the ketjaks jumped to their feet in acrobatic poses, athletic pyramids, a boy in a back-bend while another stood on his chest. They climbed on each other's shoulders, shaking and shouting. Suddenly the dance master whirled on his seat as if he could not stand it any longer, and yelled: “ Daaag! “ The whole show stopped dead. After a pause the play began, an ardja story with the usual princes, prime ministers, and clowns Later I found out that the djanger was a recent development. It had started suddenly, when, about 1925, the first company of Malay operettas (stambul) visited the island. The Balinese immediately created their own version of the pantomime, and the djanger spread like an epidemic; everywhere djanger groups were formed and soon every bandjar could boast a djanger club. It was the first time that boys and girls joined to dance for the fun of performing together, their first social dance. Every district developed its own style. In Buleleng there was a group in which the girls wore shorts, showing their legs, a rather shocking exhibition for the Balinese, who called it djanger melalong, the “ naked djanger,” but it was popular among the rich Chinese of Buleleng. The djanger was then the most popular entertainment. Nobody cared to see anything else and every girl in Bali hoped to become a djanger and hummed the songs all day. We feared that the djanger would kill other forms of Balinese dancing, but on our return two years later, we were surprised to find that there was no more djanger; all the famous groups had stopped. Some of the girls had married, and since there was no more demand, the groups were not reorganized. The most exhilarating show of the Balinese was dead and forgotten. Only a sleepy group remained: the djanger for the toutists, still avidly photographing what they called “ temple dancers.”
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