Kecak Fire & Trance Dance

When we were in Bali we had the opportunity to go to a cultural dance show at a local temple, Pura Dalem in Ubud. It is located in the middle of town, just off the main street. It’s kind of interesting to turn off a semi-lit road, on foot in the dark, to a road that has no lights on it. We were a little nervous just wandering down this dark street, but there was a building lit up a little way down and several locals had told us this was the street to go down, so we turned and made out way down the road. You’d really think they’d put lights or something on a road where an after-dark show was being held, but most of the streets there don’t have lights and the ones that do have very few, so the locals probably think the one guest house and the lights in front of the temple a couple blocks down are enough.

Once we got to the temple and made our way up the steps to go inside, we were pretty impressed. The performance area is absolutely beautiful and the carvings are so fascinating! The show was pretty awesome, too. More than worth the price. Tickets are 75,000 rupiah per person, which equals about $6.60. So, seriously, if you’re going to Bali, it’s very worth it to spend an hour and a half watching a very well-done local show.

We arrived to the show about 30 minutes early (as advised by the ticket seller) and we were very glad we did. There are three rows of chairs facing the front and 6-7 rows of chairs to the left and right. We were one of the first people to arrive, so we wandered around and decided that front row center would be a good place. I think I’d recommend being slightly off-center, though, because dancers come in straight behind the centerpiece and dance there for an extended length of time, so be a bit to the side so you can have a clear sight of the doorway.

As for being there early, you really should arrive 20-30 minutes before the show starts. People trickled in slowly for the first 5-10 minutes after we got there, but after that it was a madhouse. There weren’t enough seats for everyone and people were saving seats for friends, so there were a lot of people who had to sit on the floor, stand behind the chairs or stand in the corner. We were pretty fortunate because they wouldn’t let people sit on the ground in front of our row. Why? Because the performers sat there! Woohoo! lol.

We were fortunate for another reason, too. We were sitting by the aisle where people walked in and aside from a few latecomers walking in front of us, we were able to stand up in the aisle to get better shots. I spent most of my time standing in the aisle so I could get a video of the performance. And take pictures. At the same time. I felt pretty awesome. An older guy though so, too. lol. 

Anyways, on to the show!

When you arrive, they give you a pamphlet that describes the performance and tells you about the story they are performing. It is a really interesting story and it makes much more sense if you read it beforehand. I didn’t read it before the show and had no clue what the story was until I read it on the drive back to the hotel. Troy, on the other hand, read it and said he completely understood the entire show. So, read the brochure during that time you are there before the show starts.

KECAK DANCE

What makes the Kecak special is that the accompanying music is provided by the human voice, the gamelan suara, a choir of a hundred men or more sitting in concentric circles, swaying, standing up, lying prone as the story develops. Amongst the swaying masses the voices of the storytellers can be heard telling the unfolding tale.

The story is a fragment from the Ramayana, the Hindu epic which finds its expression in many forms, not only in dance, but also in painting and carving. Prince Rama, heir to the throne of the kingdom of Ayodya, and his wife Sita have been banished from the kingdom by King Dasarata as a result of trickery by Rama’s stepmother. The story begins with the arrival of Rama and Sita accompanied by Rama’s brother Laksmana in the forest of Dandaka.

The trio have been observed by the demon Rahwana, King of Alengka, who lusts after the beautiful Sita.

Rahwana sends his prime minister Marica to try to isolate Sita so that Rahwana can kidnap her. Marica’s magical powers turn him into a golden deer and he enters the forest and when Sita sees the golden deer she is so enchanted by it that she asks Rama to capture it for her.

Rama chases after the deer leaving his brother Laksamana behind with strict instruction to protect Sita. When Sita thinks she hears a cry for help from Rama she forces Laksamana to go after Rama by accusing him of cowardice and he goes off to help Rama with great reluctance after drawing a magic circle on the ground and telling Sita the she should not under any circumstance step out side the circle.

Sita, left alone in the forest becomes an easy prey to the trickery of Rahwana who has disguised himself has an old priest and begs Sita for some food as he is cold and hungry. Sita falls for for his trick, she steps outside the circle to give the old priest some food and Rahwana grabs her and takes her to his palace. Once back in his palace in Alengka, Rahwana tries everything he can to seduce Sita without any luck.

In the palace of Alengka, Sita pours out her heart about her cruel fate to Rahwana’s niece Trijata, when Hanoman appears telling her that hi is Rama’s envoy and proving it by showing her Rama’s ring. Sita gives Hanoman a hairpin to show she is still alive and sand him back to Rama with a massage to come to her rescue.

In the meantime Rama and Laksamana accompanied by Tualen are wandering in the forest looking for Sita when Meganada, Rahwana’s son, appeares and engages Rama and Laksamana in Battle. Meganada uses his magic powers and shoots of an arrow which magically turns in to a dragon which overpowers Rama and Laksamana and they are trussed up in ropes.

The bird Garuda, King of all the bird, a good friend of King Dasarata, has observed trouble Rama is in from high up in the sky and comes to the rescue freeing the brothers from the ropes. Rama and Laksamana continue on their way to rescue Sita and are joined by Sugriwa, king of the monkeys, and his monkeys army.

This fragment of the Ramayana come to an end with the battle between Sugriwa and his Monkeys Army and Meganada and his Demon Army which ends with the defeat of Meganada.

TRANCE DANCE

The Sanghyang is a God-inspired trance-dance the function of which is to protect society against evil forces and epidemics. It can take several forms and the version here presented is the Sanghyang Djaran, djaran meaning horse. In Java as well as on Bali the hobby-horse is associated with trance and is also seen in the Kuda Kepang of West Java in a similar function. 

The ‘horse rider’ is lulled into a trance by the repetative sounds of the gamelan suara and in his tranced state he walks on a bed of burning coconut husks responding to the rising and falling of the sound of the gamelan suara.

After the fire dance, a man comes out and sprinkles water on the chanters. I believe he is a priest and was blessing them, but I can’t find anything that says this is true, so I’m not sure if that is correct or not.

VIDEO

Here is the video I took of the performance. It’s a bit dark, sorry. I tried to lighten it up, but the software I’m using just makes it look distorted, so I just made some minor adjustments and corrected the shakiness. There are several other videos on youtube of this dance during the day, so feel free to check out one of those for a better viewing.

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