BALINESE SONG

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

LEGONG KRATON


As it was the custom in the former days, every palace in Bali had always maintained a Logong team to dace anytime they are needed. Usually the dancers are ordinary common girls from the villages, taught in the court by the dance-teachers who were former Legongs. They are chose to become Legong s for their beauty when they were children. It is called Legong Kraton, the Palace's Legong, for they were living and performing the dance only in the court or palace (Kraton).

A team of Legong consist of three girls, one to adapt the role of the female attendant of the court, the Condong, and the other two to play the role of the royal person Legongs. The most familiar story is about a king from Lasem, which has a close link with the history of East Javanese kings during the 12th and 13th century.

Legong was distilled from the Gambuh dance, but with some more difficult and faster variations. A good dancer does not always means a good Legong. The performance itself is very tiring. Three dancers have to play all figures of the story without changing their costumes.

No comments:

Post a Comment