Barong Dance: The Story Behind
Bali is the island of exotic culture, and theater and dance are integral parts of it. The dances are popular not only in Bali or Indonesia, but also worldwide. Balinese people consider the dances very serious. Birthdays, weddings, and temples festivals are all occasions for dramatic performances and dance is inextricably linked with the Balinese religion. Many of the travel agents now are providing their tourist with the performance of dances on a daily basis in several places in Bali. But the dances are of course, do not have the same religious significance and atmosphere of a dance that is performed at a real temple festival.
One of the most often performed dances for the tourist is Barong Dance. In its original religious version, Barong Dance is about restoring the balance between good and evil. The dualities of life, a ritual contest between chaos and order. In the stage of performance for tourist, these aspects are lost and leave the Barong Dance more likely to be a colorful music comedy. But still, perform in the state of beauty.
Barong Dance is performed in stages. It is started with a short prologue that features a scene with monkey in a forest and has no connection to the rest of the story other than to show the good character of the Barong. After the prologue, two young girls perform a Legong, a very abstract and difficult dance. After this, the main story starts.
A young prince, Sadewa, is going to be sacrificed to a terrible witch monster, and two servants of the royal household are discussing opportunities to prevent this, when Kaleka, a student of the witch, enters the stage. The servants then send them for the prime minister. The queen is desperate about having to sacrifice her son, but Kaleka, the student of the witch casts a spell on her and the queen changes her mind, starts beating her son and orders the prime minister to lead Sadewa to the cemetery where the witch lives. Due to the disapproval of the minister, the Kaleka put spell on him also.
The story continues until the prince is tied in a tree. But the God Shiva put a mercy on him and makes him immortal. When the witch knows about this, she gets angry and fights the prince. First, she turns herself into a boar, then giant bird. Sadewa wins over both. But then the witch finally turns into Rangda, the evil of all creation. In order to fight her, Sadewa himself turns into the Barong (a kind of stylized lion) who represents the good powers. Rangda and the Barong fight, but as their powers are balanced, none of them can win. And finally The Barong calls his follower to help win over the witch.
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