Dances of Bali

Dances of Bali

By:http://www.edwebproject.org/bali/gallery/dance.html

The island of Bali probably has more traditional dances per square mile than any other real estate in the world. Some are solemn and graceful, while others border on slapstick. The town of Ubud is particular famous as a center of dance performances. Whether its a performance for tourists or a spectacle at a temple ceremony, you're pretty much guaranteed access to a dance performance every day in central Bali.

	Xylophone musicians in a gamelan orchestra warm up the audience before the dances begin.		Gamelan musicians are incredibly skilled, individually performing complex rhythms that blend together at a frenetic pace.
	At the beginning of this performance, a priest leads the perfomers in a procession onto the stage.		Two dancers are carried to the stage.
	Masked dancers.		Sometimes it's har to tell whether men or women are performing a particular dance.
	One of the many demons featured in Balinese dance.		In this epic dance, the evil witch Rangda, on the right, is plotting to kill a Balinese king.
	The Rangda is quite the evil beast; she sports a collection of human entrails as a necklace.		Rangda tries to make the king vulnerable by casting a spell on his bodyguards so they try to kill themselves...
	... But the good demon Barong, performed by two men in a giant costume, protects the bodyguards by casting a spell making it impossible for their daggers to penetrate their skin.		The Barong in all of its glory.
	The Barong and the king, whose life has just be saved.		In this dance, the Barong performs solo, playfully prancing around the stage.
	A group of young women imitate a group of deer playing in the forest.		In a related dance, these girls perform as butterflies.
	Every movement a dancer makes is choreographed, down to the position of the hands.		A jauk dance. The jauk is a playful, but sinister demon in which the dancer gets to improvise and even sometimes interact with the crowd.
			The jauk may look dangerous, but no members of the audience were hurt during this performance.
	A legong dancer. Legongs are traditionally young girls, but you're more likely to see young woman dancing in performances for tourists.
	Another legong dancer.		Legongs are well known for their dramatic eye movements.
	In this dance, a legong performs intricate movements with a paper fan, closing her eyes throughout the performance.
	In a Kebyar Trompong dance, a male dancer is also a musician, playing solos on a gamelan gong with the rest of the orchestra.		The Kebyar Trompong dancer twirls his drumsticks.
	The Kebya Trompong dance was made famous in the 1920s by a flamboyant dancer named Mario.
	The same dancer performs another Kebyar dance known as the Kebyar Duduk, which is performed in a sitting position.
	In this dance, a group of young women start off the night's performances by showering the stage with flower petals, carried in a metal bowl.
	Flower petals fall to the stage.
	A dance based on a story from the Ramayana in which a prince falls in love.
			The old king, father of the prince.