Bali Dance Imitating the Movement of Nature

29 November 2010

Here the dancers are analogized to animals arranged and governed entirely by the shepherd namely the Supreme God. On that account, any movements of the dancers are not entirely derived from themselves, but their partial movements are inspired by God.

As result, the dance will have a magical or spiritual power. A dance in Bali is composed by its composer based on instinct or intuition in art. It can be carried out by imitating human motion, mimicking the movement of water, wind, trees and so forth. Thus, they are summed up into a movement having an artistic value. Within a community of high culture and upholding the religious-agrarian and mystical values, as in Bali, the dance movement is accompanied by certain accents with supernatural powers.

It is also accompanied with certain oblation and mantra to invite the spiritual and physical power. Occasionally, the dances composed are accompanied with a mythology to support and sustain the sanctity of the dance. Therefore it is not uncommon that a newly composed dance tells about a mythology occurring long before the dance was composed. Whether a dance or performance is sacred or not can be measured by several general categories such as: the dance is never hired or rented for a commercial show. It is merely functioned as a complement of ritual procession.

Then, the dance also brings along with typical accessories. And the dancer that may present the dance is selected whether by the agreement of supporting community or through a medium by performing metuwunan ritual namely invoking the heavenly guard through a trance and so forth. Examples of the sacred dance are the Pendet Dance, Baris Gede Dance, Rejang Dance, Sanghyang Dance, Dalem Sidakarya Mask Dance, Ketekok Jago Dance, Day Puppet and Sapuh Leger show.

Meanwhile, the profane or unsacred dances can be hired or rented. They merely function as an entertainment or complement of a particular event. In addition, they do not necessarily bring along with certain sacred accessories. Examples of this dance or show are other dances than those mentioned above. Sacred dance is offered or presented to Supreme God with certain rituals on a particular day to please God so that He would give blessings in the form of physical and spiritual well-being. The barong idol in the temple, for instance, presented with oblation and danced during the temple anniversary (piodalan) or a particular ritual is a sacred thing. The sacredness will be associated with a particular ritual. If it has something to do with rituals, it is then a matter of faith or belief!