UBUD LIST OF PERFORMANCE 2015

SUNDAYS	PLACE	PM
Legong of Mahabharata	Ubud Palace	7.30
Kecak Fire & Trance Dance	Padang Tegal Kaja	7.00
Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppet)	Oka Artini	8.00
The Peliatan Master	Arma Museum	7.30
Janger	Lotus Pond Open Stage	7.30
Jegog (Bamboo Gamelan)	Bentuyung Village	7.00
Kecak Fire & Trance Dance	Batukaru Temple	7.30
Dancers & Musician of Peliatan	Balerung Mandera	7.30
Pondok Pekak Gamelan & Dance	Bale Banjar Ubud Kelod	7.30
MONDAYS	PLACE	PM
Legong Dance	Ubud Palace	7.30
Kecak Fire (Monkey Chant Dance)	Junjungan Village	7.00
Barong & Keris Dance	Wantilan	7.00
Kecak Ramayana & Fire Dance	Pura Dalem Ubud	7.30
Women Gamelan & Dance Group	Bale Banjar Ubud Kelod	7.30
Wayang Wong	Arma Museum	7.00
Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppet)	Pondok Bamboo	8.00
TUESDAYS	PLACE	PM
Ramayana Ballet	Ubud Palace	7.30
Spirit of Bali	Pura Desa Kukuh	7.00
Kecak Fire & Trance Dance	Padang Tegal Kelod	8.00
Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppet)	Monkey Forest	7.30
Legong Dance	Balerung Stage	7.30
Legong Dance	Pura Dalem Ubud	7.00
Women Gamelan w/Child Dance	Lotus Pond Open Stage	7.30
Narita Dewi Gamelan & Dance	Bale Banjar Ubud Kelod	7.30
Barong & Keris Dance	Bale Banjar Ubud Kelod	7.30
Legong Telek	Arma Museum	7.30
WEDNESDAYS	PLACE	PM
Legong & Barong Dance	Ubud Palace	7.30
Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppet)	Oka Artini	8.00
Legong Dance Yamasari Group	Puri Agung Peliatan	7.30
Kecak & Fire Dance	Padang Tegal	7.00
Jegog (Bamboo Gamelan)	Pura Dalem Ubud	7.00
Kecak Fire & Trance Dance	Pura Dalem Taman Kaja	7.30
Topeng Jimat	Arma Museum	7.00
Chandra Wira Buana	Bale Banjar Ubud Kelod	7.30
THURSDAYS	PLACE	PM
LegongTrance & Paradise Dance	Ubud Palace	7.30
Kecak (Monkey Chant Dance)	Puri Agung Peliatan	7.30
Legong Dance	Pura Desa Kutuh	7.30
The Barong & Keris Dance	Pura Dalem Ubud	7.30
Barong & Child Dance	Ubud Water Palace	7.30
Kecak Fire & Trance Dance	Pura Taman Sari	7.30
Kecak Fire & Trance Dance	Batukaru Temple	7.30
Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppet)	Pondok Bamboo	8.00
Legong Dance	Pura Keloncing	7.30
FRIDAYS	PLACE	PM
Barong Dance	Ubud Palace	7.30
Legong & Barong Dance	Balerung Stage	7.30
Kecak & Fire Dance	Pura PAdang Kertha	7.00
Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppet)	Oka Kartini	8.00
Jegog (Bamboo Gamelan)	Bentuyung Village	7.00
Kecak Ramayana & Fire Dance	Pura Dalem Ubud	7.30
Barong & Keris Dance	Arma Museum	6.00
Women Gamelan	Bale Banjar Ubud Kelod	7.30
Frog Dance	Pondok Pekak	7.30
SATURDAYS	PLACE	PM
Legong Dance	Ubud Palace	7.30
Legong Dance	Puri Agung Peliatan	7.30
Kecak Fire & Trance Dance	Padang Tegal	7.00
Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppet)	Monkey Forest	8.00
Legong Dance	Ubud Water Palace	7.30
Beauty of Legong	Pura Dalem Ubud	7.30
Kecak Fire & Trance Dance	Pura Dalem Taman Kaja	7.30
Satya Brastha	Arma Museum	7.00
EVERY 1st. and 15th.	PLACE	PM
Gambuh Dance	Pura Desa Batuan	7.00
EVERY FULL MOON & NEW MOON	PLACE	PM
Kecak Rina	Arma Museum	7.30

WAYANG

Wayang means shadow, used to name this kind of performance since originally the public could only see the shadows of leather puppets played by the Dalang player from behind the screen. It uses a special coconut-oil lamp, hung above the Dalang’s head, for the lighting. The Dalang uses Sanskrit language and Old Javanese Kawi language during the story, but then he translates them himself into the common Balinese language.

A Wayang-Kulit is the name of the puppet show, but that word is also used to mention a piece of carved-leather puppet. People call is Wayang Peteng, the night show, if the play is to entertain them at night, from about 9 pm until midnight. If it is played during the day then called Wayang Lemah, the Noon Show, for it is the part of a temple ceremony, and the Dalang plays his puppet without a screen.

In its further advancement people wanted more than just shadows which is in fact only ib black and white. They wanted colors, more dynamic movements, and more realistic play. So they created another play where the roles of puppets were taken over by dancers. They used a stage or arena instead of a screen, and the public then could see a more colorful playinstead of only shadows. However this later show is still called Wayang with an additional word Wong has no Wayang (shadow) to show, but only Wong (men)

TOPENG

Topeng is another version of danced-drama where every player puts a mask, the topeng, on his face. If the other danced-dramas are full of symbols, and metaphorical lyric, in contrast, everything of Topeng seems more realistic, prosaic, and comprehensible, either satrirical or comic. A Topeng performance is played by only two, three, or four dancers. Two of them adapt the role of Penasar & Kartala, the royal attendants who are also the clowns, the communicators, and the dancers who sould build up the atmosphere and arouse a sense of humour amongst the public. If one plays the communicator the other appears alternately to play different role he only changes the mask, the actions, the movements, the voice, but not the dress. Usually they play out the genealogical history of the high-caste family. The name of Topeng is also used to describe the solo dance, wherein the dancer puts a mask on his face. The popular one is Topeng Tua, The Old Man’s Mask. The dancer for this topeng should master all sorts of an old-man’s actions. Topeng Bebondresan is a series of masks expressing several ridiculous characters. The dancer of Bebondresan, undoubtedly, should be proficient in acting as much as each mask leave the dancer’s mouth uncovered to allow speaking or singing.

Another version of solo Topeng is called Sidakarya, meaning the Bringer of Luck, which is also called Dalem Truna, the King of Unmarried Youth, or just called Pajegan. This dance is only performed during a certain ceremony, where the dancer, with his ugly mask, frightens the children but then scatters an amount of coins to be fought over by the crowd.

SENDRATARI

The name of Sendratari derived from the words Seni Drama, the art of Drama, or Theatre, and Tari, meaning the dance. Actually this type of performing art has been known by the Balinese since the Gambuh Dance was known as a danced-drama, a long time ago. However, people gave their positive responses when Sendratari was announced for the first time in the 60’s by the students of the Conservatory of Instrumental Arts and Dance (KOKAR), Denpasar, by enacting the famous episode of Ramayana story.

Unlike the other danced-dramas, with their strict rules of costuming, Sendrataris seems to give a wider chance for the dancer to wear varied dresses, even the adapted western ballet’ costumes. It has an unlimited number of dancers, unlimited variation of stories, and unlimited sympony arrangements for the gong orchestra as well. The dances were developed from the elements of Wayang Wong, with large additional variations. Some performance uses the Dalang story teller, but very often he is neclected.

SANG HYANG

Trance, which is said to be the arrival of a holy spirit into the body of the exorcist, is something quite natural for the Balinese. Entranced dancers are found in any performances. The players of kris dance in the Barong Sahadewa, or the Rangda of Barong Landung, or the Calonarang, or the Baris Tumbak, or the dancers of Abuang and Pendet during a certain ceremony in the temple, all are in trance shortly before the dance is ended. But amongst those ways of trance probably the dancers of Sang Hyang are the ones with their own specification.

There are many versions of Sang Hyang. All of their dancers are not really dancers, nor know how to dance. They are only able to dance while they are in trance, and know nothing at all after it.in Sang Hyang Dedari, for instance, there are two girls, very young virgins, considered to be holy. These girls dresses in Legong costumes, sit in front of smoking fragrant incense and offerings, while a number of women are chanting the Sang Hyang songs to invite the evil spirits to come down to the earth. Soon after the holy nymphs Dedaris (Vidiadari: the heavenly nymph) enter into the body of the girls both of them rock back and forth. At last they fall down fully in trance, and the chant stops. The girls are taken from the temple where that ceremony was held, to the place where the Sang Hyang dance will be performed (usually is not far from the temple). In this performance the girls dance and dance with closed eyes, unconscious sometimes dancing on the smallest branches of a tree, or even on the coconut leaf-stems (but not too high), and very often they dance by standing on the shoulders of two men walking around the area.

Another version of this trance dance is Sang Hyang Jaran, the horse Sang Hyang, where the male dancer dances on the burning coconut husks with his hobby-horse. It is called Sang Hyang Delling if the medium are puppets which are played by children.

Though Sang Hyang is a ritual dance, and believed to be sacred, in recent days the Sang Hyang Jaran is performed as a regular show, especially every full-moon and dark-moon night.

REJANG

Rejang is a ritual mass dance, performed by rows of girls in their best dress. Their steps and movements are very smooth and slow, symbolic of their surrender to the God. Their arms rise almost never higher than the hip while the bodies move passively but full of devoutness.

The famous Rejang Dance is shown in the village of Tenganan, on the Usaba day of the first month, Kasa, according to the lunar calendar. The unmarried girls and boys of that village, considered still untouched by the magical impurity suppose to come from sexual intercourse, dance the Rejang (for girls) and Abuang (for boys) accompanied by the metalophones orchestra Gamelan Selonding which is only found in this village. This special ceremony, which is only held once a year, is great chance for the boys to observe and choose their fiancées. A boy, who is attracted by one of the girls, my walk up to the girls and take his place in the dance. If the girl is interested she may respond by following theboy to his boyfriends’ seats.

PEREMBON

At the end of the fifties there were two dancers from the village of Singapadu, near Celuk, who saw that not every dancer could enact a role in every performance. There are remainders, by chance, but they are good dancers. Suppose those “wasted” figures are combined in a certain composition: Why not?

These two men, Pak Keredek and Pak Griya, then assembled those who were “wasted”, gave a role to each of them according to their ability and talent, and launched the idea for the story but let the details be developed by the dancers themselves. So a performance was born. Pak Keredek and Pak Griya titled it Perembon, derived from two Balinese words Para (a prefix, meaning plural) Imbuhan (the remainders, whatever is left).

Within a very short time people fell in love with this performance. It is really free, comical, adaptative, and responsive to any idea launched by the public during the show. No strict rule should be followed by the dancers since Perembon is a combination of a number of dancers from all sort of performances. The figure of aking in Perembon may be adapted by a Topeng dancer, who is not able to converse for the mask covers his entire face, or maybe an Arja dancer, who should only sing the difficult lyrics. The other dancers are different from from each other. Maybe the Arja’s princess has a Wayang Wong’s mother and two Legong’s friends and a Topeng attendant. But it is no exaggeration to say that Perembon is the most amusing performance to see.

PENDET

The original form of Pendet is a ritual dance for a certain offerinh presentation during a temple ceremony. The dancers, male and female a like, carrying small flower offerings in their hands, dance the Pendet before the shrine.

In its futher development Pendet is danced by organized rows of girls to welcome guests, or as the opening dance in the beginning of a performnce. Instead of offering s they carry small silver trays full of flowers to sow. This dance is also named Panyembrama.

Since its movements and steps are very simple Pendet becomes the first every beginner should learn. The way of teaching ismvery simple. the teacher steps slowly, her mouth imitating th drums and gongs, while her body and arms are moving slowly, repeated by the students stepping behind her.

OLEG TAMBULILINGAN

Oleg means the supple sway of a dancer. Tambulilingan is the Bahasa Bali for Bumblebee. Oleg Tambulilingan, a combination of Oleg dance and Bumblebee dance, was created by I Ktut Maria in 1952, to express the actions of a Bumblebee couple with all of their supple feminity and lively masculinity. Recently it has become the favourite duet number included in the Legong performance, the performance of several single dances. The female, who appears first, dance smoothly in her long tailed Kain Songket cloth with the long silken scarves hanging from her sides. She depicts the happy bumblebee, enjoying a bright day, and flying here and there to sip honey from any flower. In the middle of her dance appears the male bumblebee, stepping in shyly observing the beauty, but then, attracted by the appearance of the female he tries to come closer and closer. Accompanied by the Gong Kebyar orchestra, with its rising flops of drums and cymbals, both of them moving faster and faster around the stage, especially after the male actions respond to the female. They flit and flirt, and in the ens of the dance they leave the stage together, hand in hand.

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.

KEBYAR

The name of Kebyar is also used to describe the complete gamelan orchestra which accompany this kind of dance. It was recorded for the first time in the diary of a Dutch Regent in Buleleng (Singaraja) in 1915.

The famous Kebyar dancer was the late I Ktut Maria, who was born in Tabanan in 1895 and died in 1968. He was also the creator of the famous Kebyar Trompong dance, the combination of the sitting dance Kebyar Duduk and Trompong play. (Trompong: a row of small gongs in its 3 meter long table, usually played by 4 musicians together but sometimes it is only played by a singel player). Kebyar Trompong expresses the mood of a happy boy in his puberty age, moving here and there to show his new and bright dress, and somtimes playing his fan or sticking the Trompng instrument once or twice. But unlike the Baris dance, where the dancer dominated the gamelan, in Kebyar the dancer in dependent on th gamelan orchestra, especially the drums and cymbals. Actually Kebyar is the exhibition of the Gong Kebyar orchestra, not the dancer.

Another version of this dance is Legong Kebyar, danced by a couple of girls or a girls and a boy.

JOGED

In its former version Joged dance wasaccompanied by women's bamboo music, which consisted of several sizes of big of bamboo tu es, from one meter to about two meters long, pounded vertically to produce varied tones in a certain composition. Then the Joged became more popular with its longer name, Joged Bumbung, The Bamboo Tubes Dance.

These days Joged Bumbung is no longer danced by several girls at once but only one girl encircled by the public which are mostly boys. She has a fan in hand to touch one of the boys. The one who is touched should come into circle to dance with the Joged for some moments. The dancing elements of Joged derived from the solo Legong; quick, rapid, perfect, but intimate and smooth. The dancer wears the long sleeved Kebaya, bright cloth Kain Songket, and frangipani head dress.

Nowdays Joged Bumbung is accompanied by Angklung music, chained bamboo tubes of various sizes struck by a pair of sticks to play the melody, complete with several bamboo flutes, cymbals, and a gong.

JAUK

Jauk is a classical singel dance to express the actions and movements of a demon. As dance Jauk is shown between several numbers of singel dances. athe dancer, aboy or an old man, wears the classical coetume of a knight with a demon mask on his face. He must show his talent in imitating all sorts of movements, without changing his facial expression, since the mask his face.

The steps and movements of Jauk seem to have a lpt of resemblance with the elements of Baris dance, but his manner is more exaggerated and violent. It also dominates the music. The dancer's long nailed fingers are used to signal the music player to slow down or to speed up the rythm, or to change the melody according to the steps and movements he wants to improvise.

The original Jauk is a play where the dancers are wearing the demon masks. They enact a certain episode of Ramayana or Mahabharata story in old language Kawi version.

JANGER

Formerly the janger dance was performed by two rows of boys facing each other, sitting on the floor with a set of fruit and flower offering in between. In its futher developments one of the rows was taken by a row of girls facing each other.

Janger enacts the story of Mahabharata, especially the episode of Arjuna Vivaha. Arjuna, the third brother of Pandawa, was in meditation and enticed out by Supraba and her friends, the heavenly nymphs Vidyadaris. Other stories are about the big war Bharata Yudha of the Mahabharata story, or sometimes just a fictitious romance.

During the play one of the boys adapt the role of a Daag, the story teller to translate the lyrics sung by the other Janger dancers. Nowdays the story in Janger is much more free for it is a very adaptable performance. Any public progress could easily influence the lyrics and the language, especially because the Janger dancers are the youth. Very often youth's popular slang is launched by one of the Janger to make humorous terms, or one of the dancers intentionally makes mistakes for jokes. Janger is accompanied by the music Arja. Flutes for melody, a small singel gong Tala-Tala for the rythm, a couple of drums, cymbals, and several other percussion instruments.

GENGGONG

Genggong is the name of a kind of misical instrument, one of the oldest music instruments in Bali, or possibly in the world. Many books describe that this kind of instrument found in many parts of the world, in many versions and shapes.

Balinese Genggong is made of the skin of palm-leaf stem (Arenga Saccharifera), about 10 to 20 cm long, 2 or 3 wide, 2 to 5 mm thick. Its center part is very thin to allow it vibrate when blown. The orchestra is played by a team of 30 to 100 players, each person has one Genggong to blow by mouth, with several bamboo flutes to play the melody while the bass is produced by an instrument called Guntang.

Very often a Genggong play has some dancing too. Usually it is just improvisations, derived from the action of animals like the butterfly dance. Tiger dance, Monkey dace, or even just a "no name" dance performed by one of audience.

GAMBUH

Gambuh is the oldest dance in Bali, performed only during a certain ceremony in a certain temple. From the elements of Gambuh were born many dances. Nobody knows how and when this dance was created. Most people are interested only in its dancing; the movements, the steps, the expressions of the dancers, but not the story nor the difficult Sanskrit lyrics. The number of dancers depend on the story, between 3 to 30 dancers, males and females.

Music for Gambuh is a combination of several long and big bamboo flutes, of about 1 meter long and 3 to 5 cm in diameter, to play the melody, accompanied by one or more Balinese traditional violins, the Rebabs, a couple drums, cymbals, gongs, and several other pecussion instruments.

Usually thestory of Gambuh is about Pakang Raras, some episodes derived from thenlegend which is very closely linked with the hiatory of East Javanese kingsoms during the 15th century. Gambuh is known amongst dancers as the most difficul dance. Its original stricnesss should be dance. Its elements sould be danced in its original strictness.

DRAMA GONG

Drama Gong is the futher development of dance-drama and folk opera. It is more realistic than the operas, leaving the difficult lyrics and songs and dances, but still the gamelan music remains. So then people called it "Drama Gong", the drama accompaniend by gong orchestra.

The number of players is unlimited but the cast always includes king, queens, a good looking prince and his friends, another prince with a bed character, a beautiful princess, and some other players to adapt the simpler roles. The stories are completely free, so are the dialogues. They use the local language, Bahasa Bali, and Bahasa Indonesia at once, and even some words of English if they have to shpw a role with that language. Drama Gong is the favourite show for the youth. It is played from about 10pm until dawn.

CUPAK AND GRANTANG

There was a widow who lived in a small village with her two sons. I Cupak, the older son, have an ugly face, he also greedy, impolite, lazy, idiotic, and cowardly. His younger brother, I Grantang, is a handsome boy, polite, good-hearted, clever, and deligent. It is said that both of them are the sons of the God Brahma, therefore they have very strong magic powers. One day, because Cupak was very dull and annoyed his mother, he was ordered to go away and not to come back home. Grantang who felt like being a loyal brother secretly followed his elder brother. Finally both of them arrived in a country which was in the confusion due to the wickedness of a giant. The supernaturally powered Grantang wanted to help the people. He went to a very deep well, where the giant hides hilself, followed by his elder brother. But the coward Cupak only helped him by holding a long rope to go down into the well.and soon after Grantang reached the bottom of the well Cupak took the rope. Instead of helping his younger brother to kill the giant Cupak certainly called on the King in order to recover the rewards.

Grantang who succeeded in defeating the giant used the bones of his enemy to climb up the surface. But how disappointed he was when found another turmoil caused by his elder brother.

BASUR

A man named Basur, a magician, has son named Tigaran, who has set his heart on getting Sukasti, the daughter of Nyoman Karang. Unfortunately that girl was promised to her cousin Tirta, a student. Tirta himself wanted to become a wizard and help mankind rather than to become a common person who may have wife. It is hard for Tirta’s father to persuade his son to marry, but then he overcomes Tirta with two magic syllables which were beyond his son. Then Tirta consents to marry Sukasti.

On the other side Basur tries in vain to stir-up his crazy son Tigaran to fight Tirta, so he kidnaps Sukasti himself one night when Tirta was away hunting. The crazy boy Tigaran is about to take Sukasti by force to make love when Tirta return and fights him to recover his wife. Basur, by his own magic powers, transforms himself in to the shape of a bird and carries disease to Sukasti who then falls dangerously ill, and at last is at the point of death. The first witch-doctor called was defeated by Basur’s magic powers, but the second succeeds in defeating Basur and so heals Sukasti.

People believe that it is not easy to perform the Basur story for the dancers should be protected by very strong magician; otherwise the dancer who adapts the role of Sukasti could really be killed by “outsider’s” magic powers.  

RAJAPALA

Rajapala is a boy. One day he goes to the forest alone hunting for birds accompanied by his blow-pipe. In the forest he finds seven nymphs bathing in a lake. A sudden idea comes into his mind. He steals one of the nymph’s magical dresses. When they want to fly back to the heaven one of the nymphs could not follow her friends for she had lost her magical dress. At the right moment, when the nymph is in sorrow, Rajapala show himself to offer his help but only if that nymph wants to become his wife. In her sadness the nymph, Ken Sulasih, has no other choice but to accept that  offer. And Rajapala takes Sulasih home.

A few years after their marriage, when they already have a son they named Durma, Ken Sulasih find her magic dress hidden under the stacks of paddies in the rice-barn. She takes it to fly back to the heaven, leaving her husband and her son to stay on the earth.