Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Bali Dance

Art is everywhere in Bali. From the intricate flower decorations in a Barong dancer's headdress, to elaborately carved temple facades and beautiful oil paintings. Bali's performing arts are also an integral part of Balinese culture.

Music and dance play a huge part in significant rituals and religious ceremonies. Known as " the Island of the Gods" hardly a day goes by without a ceremony or festival taking place. Traditional dances with full gamelan orchestras are performed for tourists daily in addition to the day to day religious ceremonies. Definitely worth seeing.



Barong Dance
The Barong is triumphant display of graceful movement and vibrant colour. The dance is basically a contest between the opposing forces of Rangda - chaos and destruction, and Barong - order. (Basically good and evil.)

Performances
Suwung and Kesiman, in the suburbs of Denpasar.
Batubulan: Daily from 9:00 or 9:30 a.m.
Banjar Abasan, Singapadu: Daily from 9:30 a.m.
Puri Saren in Ubud: Fridays from 6:30 p.m.

Legong Dance
The Legong is a very difficult dance requiring great dexterity and is generally performed by young girls. The dance is choreographed to the finest detail, to a set pattern with no improvisation allowed.

Performances
Peliatan Stage, Friday from 6:30 p.m.
Pura Dalem & Puri Peliatan, Saturday from 6:30 p.m.
Pura Peliatan in Ubud, Sunday from 7:30 p.m.
Puri Saren, Ubud, Monday from 7:30 p.m.
Banjar Tegal, Kuta, Saturday and Tuesday from 8:00 p.m.

Kecak Dance
The kecak is a ritual dance which was created in the early 1930's for the movie "Island of the Demons" by the German painter and intellectual Walter Spies. The dance combines the chorus of the "Sanghyang" trance dance with a dance story from the epic "Ramayana."

It is extremely impressive with its circular chorus of sometimes over 100 bare-chested male singers.

Performances
Arts Center, Denpasar, daily from 6:30 p.m.
Banjar Buni, Kuta, Sunday from 8 p.m.
Banjar Tegal, Ubud, Sunday from 6:00 p.m.

Fire Dance
This dance is an exorcism dance form against spirit possession, where barefooted girls in trance dance among glowing coals.

Performances
Bona Kangin, Gianyar, Friday. Monday and Wednesday from 6:30
Bonasari, Gianyar, Friday, Monday and Wednesday from 7:00 p.m.
Batubulan, daily from 6:30 p.m.

Ramayana Dance
This highly entertaining dance form plays out the epic legends of the Ramayana. There are occasional performances in Banjar Buni, Kuta

Monday, January 12, 2009

Gopala Dance

The Ghopala Dance

This dance provides the audience with an interesting insight into the lives of people who live in a simple and pure manner in an environment of blissful tranquillity. This dance originated in 1984 and usually performed by five boy dancers. The characters of the Ghopala dance are especially funny and will draw laughter from the audience.

The Ghopala theme depicts the world of children herdsmen who gleefully meet and play along the boundaries of rice fields while tending their cows. Their lives are filled with happiness as they dance and play in a way which highlights their individual characters. They never tire of their duties as herdsmen, faithfully defending the lives of their cattle. Thus the audience are transported to a distant time when people lived in peace and contentment, an age which had not yet become influenced by the bustle of business which now constantly steals our time.


The Semarayana Dance

As we know, there exists many art forms such as music, painting, poetry, drama, sculpture, etc. and, of course, dancing is yet another and is a popular form of expression. Artists will take a certain aspect of a medium, build on it to form another. This is the case of the Semarayana dance developed in 1994 as a subject for a thesis submitted by Ms Ni Nyoman Sri Armita to the Indonesian Arts Academy of Denpasar for her graduation.

The main character is Dewi Chandra Kirana, a princess from the kingdom of Daha who disguised herself as a male youth so she could venture out and seek her beloved who had disappeared without a trace.

With shoulder length hair, commonly used centuries ago throughout Java and Bali, the princess was unrecognisable as a female. The symbol of manhood which fooled people she met on the road, was the use of the Balinese male headgear called the Destar. It is made from material that wraps around the head and has an artistic formation of bunched material at the front.

Balinese males still use the destar when attending ceremonies. The feature of the destar is the decorative use of gold lines.

Dewi meets her beloved but due to her disguise and the fact that he is partly obscured when they meet, a fight develops. In the ensuing melee, the princess's destar is knocked from her head and her sweetheart, Raden Inu Kertapati, recognises her and rushes to her side to embrace her.

And, of course, they lived happily ever after.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Bali Dance Competition

Move Your Body, Expression Your Talent, And Show It Here…… Dance competition yang diselenggarakan 12 Juli 2008 kemaren membuka kesempatan bagi orang-orang yang berkompeten di dunia dancer. Ajang ini baru pertama kali diadain kampus kita STMIK Stikom Bali yang dilaksanakan serangkaian dengan Diesnatalis ke-6. Dance Competition ini di peruntukkan untuk umum, acara ini disambut dengan baik terbukti dengan jumlah peserta 11 tim yang mengikuti kompetisi ini dan tentunya antusias penonton yang menyaksikannya.
  Acara dimulai pukul 15.00 para peserta mulai menampilkan perform mereka yang sangat aktraktif sehingga juri-juri merasa agak kesulitan untuk menilai penampilan mereka dilihat dari score yang di peroleh berbeda tipis. Juri-juri yang didatangkan sudah sangat berpengalaman tentunya terbukti yang menjadi juara memang peserta yang sangat perfect diantara peserta lainnya yaitu Juara I : U.V dancer, Juara II : Lil Funky dancer, dan Juara III diraih oleh Cappoera dancer, banyak hal yang dinilai disini baik segi kostum,keserasian lagu dan gerak, namun yang terpenting adalah expresi mereka pada saat perform mereka.
  Acara ini tidak sebatas kompetisi semata, kompetisi ini bertujuan memberikan kesempatan bagi mereka yang berbakat. Acara ini juga dimeriahkan dengan game-game seru, para penonton juga bisa mendapatkan hadiah dari sponsor yang mendukung acara ini. Penampilan dari RX-C band, Voice 69, dan Guest star dari Tissue band diiringi oleh model-model yang menggunakan busana dari Mama & Leon yang merupakan puncak acara dance competition kali ini.
  Dance Competition kali ini di sponsori oleh STMIK Stikom Bali, TELKOMSEL, Mama & Leon, Honda 99 Hayam Wuruk, Artic Studio, Mihotplet, InulVista, Irene Wardrope, Phoenix Radio, Cassanova FM, BCFM, Elkoga Radio.