DANCE AND DRAMA
Adding to the beauty and wealth of the Balinese culture is its dance, which is performed during temple festivals and in ceremonies of the cycle of life and death. Dance are so much a part of Balinese daily rituals that the tourists see in hotels and restourant and just a factions of the wealth of the Balinese dance.
Though the origin of the Balinese dance harks back long before any written history, inscriptions from the ninth century named the wayang (puppet theater) and topeng (mask dance) as the main entertainment of the day. Even gamelan music had already been performed in the Dong Son bronze culture of the first millennium BC. Apart from the trance dances that are indigenous, much of the Balinese dance heritage actually originates from Java.

HISTORY OF THE
BALINESE DANCE

In the 14th century, the defeat of Bali by Majapahit led to the creations of mini- principalities and courts. As a result, a blend of Javanese court and peasant culture was created in Bali. The present by accompanying narrative for dance and Drama is to a large extent based on court stories from pre- Majapahit Java.
The Indian epics are another favorites of the stage and the Javanese influence can be seen especially on the Wayang where long quotes from the ancient Javanese Kekawin poetry are resided out.
The 16th century bought Islamization to Java, resulting in much of the Javanese culture vanishing from its own land. However, it transformed in Bali, becoming classical Balinese culture. But this didn't live too long until colonization.
The rural courts were defeated and replaced with new lords of the land, shifting the center creativity to village associations and to the development to tourism. The Balinese culture dances was in its hype of activities especially during the 30's and 50's.
The fertile decades helped survive the old narrative -led theater while letting loose Solo dances almost everywhere, accompanied by a new, dynamic kind of music called gong gebyar.
This trend continued in the 60's and 70's with the creations of colossal sendratari ballets, representing ancient Indian and Javanese stories adapted to the needs of modern audiences.

DANCE & RELIGION
Balinese dance is inseparable from religion. A small offering of food and flowers must precede even dances for tourists. Before performing, many dance play at their family shrines, appealing for holy "taksu" (inspiration) from the gods.
In this rural tradition, the people say that peace and harmony depend on protections by the gods and ancestor. Dance in this context may fulfil a number of specific functions :
a) As a channel for visiting gods or demonic gods, the dancer as a sort of living repository. These trance dances include the Sang Hyang Dedari, with little girl in trance, and the Sang Hyang jaran, a fire dance;
b) As a welcome for visiting gods, such as the pendet, rejang, and sutri dances;
c) As entertainment for visiting gods, such as the topeng and the wayang.
In some of these dances, the role of dancing is so important that it is actually the key to any meaning to be found in the ritual. In wayang performances, the puppeteer is often seen as the "priest" sanctifying the holy water.
As well as their use in religious ceremonies, dance and drama also we have a strong religious content. It is often said that drama is the preferred medium though which the Balinese culture tradition is transmitted. The episodes performed are usually related to the rites talking place ; during the wedding one performs a wedding story; at a death ritual there is a visit to "hell" by the heroes. Clown (penasar) comment in Balinese, peppering their jokes with religious and moral comments on stories whose narratives use Kawi (Old -Javanese).

MOVEMENT AND DANCE
The typical posture in Balinese dance has the legs half- bent, the torso shifted to one side with the elbow heightened and then lowered in a gesture that displays the suppleness of the hands and fingers. The torso is shifted in symmetry with the arms. If the arms are to the right, the shifting is to the leaf and vice - versa.
Apart from their costumes, male and female roles can be identified mostly by the accentuation of these movements. The women's legs are bent and huddled together, the feet open, so as to reveal a sensual arching of the back. The men's legs are arched and their shoulders pulled up, with more market gestures, giving the impressions of power.
Dance movements follow on from each other in a continuum of gesture with no break and no jumping (expect a few demonic or animal characters )
Each basic posture (agem), such as the opening of the curtain of the holding of the cloth, evolves into another agem though a succession a secondary gestures or tandang. The progression from one series to the other, and the change from right to left and vice- versa, in marked by a short jerky emphasis called the angsel. The expression is completed by mimicry of the face : the tangkep. Even the eyes dance, as can be seen in the baris and trunajaya dances.

THE DANCE OF BALI THE KECAK

"Cak -cak- cak ". The obsessive sound of a choir from beyond the dust of ages suddenly rises between the lofty trees. Darkness looms over the stage.
Hundreds of bare- breasted men sit in a circle around the flickering light of an oil lamp chandelier. "Cak-cak". They start dancing to the rhythmic sound of their own voices, their hands raised to the sky and bodies shaking in unison. This is the unique kecak, perhaps the most popular of all Balinese dance.
Visitors rarely leave the island of the Bali without first seeing a kecak performance. Originally the kecak was just an element of the older Sang Hyang trance dance. It consisted of a male choir praying obsessively to he souls of their ancestors. At the initiative of painter Walter Spies, this religious choir was transformed into a dance by providing it with a narrative. The balled is the Ramayana epic. The prince Rama, his wife Sita and his brother Laksamana are exiled in the middle of the forest. Rama goes hunting a golden deer at the request of his wife, who saw the strange animal and has asked him to catch it. While he is away, she is kidnapped by Rawana and taken to the latter's island kingdom of Alengka (Sriwijaya).
Rama allies himself with the monkeys and in particular with the white monkey Hanoman. They build a bridge cross to the island. War ensues until finally Rama defeats Rawana and is again united with his faithful wife.

THE BARONG
The Barong is the magical protector of Balinese village. As "lord of the forest " with fantastic fanged mask and long mane, he is the opponent of Rangda the witch, who rules over the spirits of darkness, in the never ending fight between good and evil. During the Galungan Kuningan festivals the Barong (there are many types, include barong ket, barong macan, and barong bangkal ) wanders from door to door (nglawang) cleansing the territory of evil influences.
The fight between Barong and Rangda is also the topic of traditional narratives, usually performed in the temple of the deed. The most famous is the story of Calonarang, a widow from Jirah who is furious because she cannot find and suitable husband for her daughter Ratna Manggali. All the eligible young man are scared of her black magic, so she gets revenge by wreaking havoc over the kingdom of Daha. The King, Erlangga, tries to punish her, but all his attempts fail. She kills all the soldiers he send to destroy her. Then Rangda decides to destroy Daha. She summons all her disciples and in the still of night go to the Setra ture is the use of long Bamboo flutes instead of the complete set of Gamelan and gongs.

THE TOPENG MASK.
This mask dance related the tales of Balinese and Javanese ancestors returning temporarily to inhabit the mask. Nowadays, the main stories, with their princes and clowns, are preceded by a set of Solo mask dance for men- the "topeng keras", or dance of the "strong warrior", the "topeng tua" -a fantastic dance showing the advance of old age in the king 's old counselor, and the "topeng dalem" - showing the king in all his glory with enough clowns to fill a circus.

PENDET & PANYEMBRAHMA
These dances are performed to welcome visiting gods, who are presented with offerings of flowers. Nowadays tourists are also showered with flower.

THE GEBYAR
The renewal of the arts during the 30's saw a surge in dance creativity producing dances that are still the most popular in Bali: short but spectacular non- narrative dances inspired by the dynamism of the gong kebyar, a game a orchestra originating from Northern Bali. The most famous are the kebyar duduk and kebyar trompong. These to dances were created by Mario, a Balinese dance genius form this century. They are displays of suppleness and virtuosity, particularly the kebyar trompong, with the dancer playing the trompong instrument while dancing.

THE JOGED
The Joged Bumbung is one of the few exclusively secular dances of Bali, in which the brightly- dressed dancer invites men from the crowd to dance with her in a pretence of seduction. The music is made with bumbung (bamboo) instrument. This dance is very popular with tourists.
The dance begins with along opening sequence by the female dancer. Then, long shawl in her hands, she selects a man from the audience, by either pointing with her fan or touching his waist. He ( the pengibing ) comes in stage to hoots from the audience, and is expected to be as adept at teasing as the women dancer. The better he is, the louder the cheers and roars from the crowd. He may try to pinch her, dance hip with her ,or even behave like an angry lover and try to hit her. Gendrainayu cemetery, to present offerings of deed flesh to Durga, the goddess of death. Durga aggress to the instruction, although she warns the which not to enter the city of Daha.
But the witch does not heed Durga's advice and the kingdom is soon hit by grubug ( a plague ) and the village quickly become cemeteries, people dying even before they can bury their dead. Corpses are scattered everywhere and the stench is unbearable.
The only person who can defeat the witch is Mpu Baradah. At the king's request, Bharadah sends his disciple Bahula to steal Calonarang 's magic weapon. Bahula pretends to ask for Ratna Manggali's hand in marriage, and while the witch is away, Bahula steals the magic weapon with the help of Ratna Manggali. Then the gives the stolen weapon turn out to be a manuscript containing the key to ultimate release (moksa) which has been used upside - down by Calonarang.
Bharadah goes to Daha to challenge the witch. With the help 0of the Barong, she is defeated. Before being killed, she ask to be released from her curse and purified.

THE LEGONG KERATON
The dynamic Legong Kraton Dance is the epitome of classical female Balinese dancing. A court dance, it was created in the 18 th century in the circles of the principality of Sukawati. Now including a variety of modern "free creations" (tari lepas ), the legong is usually the first dance taught to beginners. Months of training are needed to master the perfect mix of posture ( tangkep ) , movements and mimicry. Three dancer in glittering costumes - one condong lady - in- waiting and two princesses whose roles change according to the narrative -usually perform it. The ancient Legong used to have a storyteller's accompaniment, but these days they are only dance performance.

THE GAMBUH
The Gambuh is the oldest classical dance in Bali, probably introduced at the time of the Majapahit culture. At the hauntingly slow tempo, the gambuh dance drama tells episodes from the story of panji 's search for his beloved in the Kingdom of Eastern Java. Now retained in only a few village ( notably Batuan and Pedungan ), the gambuh combines the best of both female and male Balinese dancing.

THE WAYANG
The wayang puppet show is perhaps the most famous show in Balinese theater, albeit the most difficult to understand. Basically an epic narrative, it is the key to Bali 's unique words of myths, symbols and religious beliefs.
The puppet master, or dalang, tells his story by projecting the shadows of the puppets he manipulates behind a white screen and a large lamp. He plays several character at once, shifting from Old- Javanese to High Balinese, singing and hitting a box to mark the rhythm. A good dalang is a one - man- show, being in turn smart, funny and melancholic.
The dalang borrow the frame of his narrative from the great epics of the Indo- Javanese tradition, the Mahabrata and the Ramayana , although other stories many sometimes be used. He then creates his own episodes, usually concerning a hero's quest for a magical weapon, heavenly secret or partner. The Hero, accompanied by buffoons, succeeds eventually after tortuous adventure in the wilderness and fights with evil giants. The two sets of puppets - the heroes on the right , villains on the left- symbolize the eternal struggle between good and evil. But for the audience, the dalang 's ability to poke fun at everyone though the mouths of the buffoons is no less important than the narrative.

OTHER DANCE
The arja opera : classical dance with stories from the Pre- Majapahit era.
The Baris : a young warriors ' dance performed by young male dancers.
The Baris gede : two warriors groups with long spear attack each other.
The jauk : a monster with long nails goes though both joy and sadness.
The Sang Hyang Dedari : young girls go into trances on the shoulders of older men, part of a ceremony welcoming the gods.
The Sang Hyang Jaran : men trample on burning embers while " riding" brooms in this fire dance.
The wayang Wong : a Ramayana dance using ancient masks.

JANGER SANGHYANG DANCE
Whenever we are driving on to the east from Bangli town on the way to Besakih, we will arrive at Yang Api Gillage of Tembuku district. At Dusun Metra (community group) of Yang Api Village we will be informed by the villagers that there is a sacred dance called Janger Shanghyang/Janger Meborbor can be found in this village. This dance is performed during religious ceremonies. The opening stage of this dance is the same as other dances in Bali but it's specific difference is seen whenever the dancers (boys or girls) are in trance, they will jump to the fire which has been prepared in advance. It's miracle is the dancers do not get burn to their skins. The distance from Bangli to Metra is 12 kms.