Dance

A discernible cluster of features characterizes the Indic dance and drama tradition in Java and Bali, showing its radical differences from the new incoming Islamized or Westernized forms :

Gamelan The regions that enjoy a tradition of wayang or Indian dance also know the gamelan tradition. The reverse is true as well : every place where there is gamelan, there is also a wayang or dance tradition. Dance and theatrical arts are intimately tied to gamelan. This is a general but not strict rule. For example, gambuh is a dance in Bali that is not accompanied by a gamelan. Malay wayang kulit isn't performed with gamelan music. Yet such theater arts are not too distant from the dance-gamelan cultural realm. The music of gambuh (Malay wayang kulit) is indeed percussive, it has the kendang (gendang), knobbed gongs, and it belongs to the traditional music of Bali (Malaya). Other arts of the stage were certainly in the same situation in ancient Java and Bali : each dance or wayang had its own adapted percussion ensemble, of simpler formation than today's gamelans. But it is clear that gamelan has eventually become the best musical representative of the Indic dance and drama tradition in Java and Bali. The Islamic dances and Westernized plays did get a foothold on Java and it is striking to observe the contrast between their music and the native gamelan. The musical instruments typically associated with the dances and singing of the Muslim areas include the rebana (frame drum), gambus (Middle Eastern lute), serunai (reed wind instrument), and sometimes Western instruments like the accordeon and violin. It is a musical world completely different than gamelan, although the occasional presence of kendang/gendang and knobbed gongs reflects an ancient Indo-Javanese substratum or a later Javanese influence and remind us where we are.

Indianness of dance The dances are of more or less pronounced Indian type. They have roots in India. But they sometimes show also a strong influence from the local (tribal ?) slow soft type of dance. The Islamic performances are of a very different nature : the mood is more grave, the decorative setting more sober. They are not dance-oriented in the first place. If there is dance, it can incorporate various influences : from the Indo-Javanese substratum, from peñcak silat, and even from the vulgar style seen in Hindi movies.

Codified, symbolic patterns Dance gestures ; dance styles ; decorative patterns of the dancer, puppet (flat or golèk) or mask… all give information about the character and what it symbolizes. The eye expression of dancer, mask or puppet is fundamental. On the dancer, every part of the face and limbs, costume and finery can give accurate connotations or denotations. On the puppet and mask ; shape of teeth, lips, nose, hair, arms, nails, body ornaments and colors… all follow a rich language of codes. Like in dance, the way the puppet or mask moves is revealing too. The importance of codes and what they stand for are rooted in India but are now more developed and varied in Java and Bali. Shadow puppet plays exist in other countries but it is in Java, Bali and Malaya that the puppets, the codes and their link to stories are the most rich and developed. Being non-representational, the Islamic performances have no chance of even approaching the rich pictorial multiplicity of wayang. The representation of living beings is forbidden. There are shadow plays enacting Muslim stories in Java (wayang ménak) and Lombok (wayang Sasak) but these are recent local exceptions that prove the rule.

Stories The stories enacted by the puppets and dancers stem from India. The two names typically evoked are Ramayana and Mahabharata. But it is always excerpts or summaries that are performed. And details may vary, a story has no official fixed telling. A large corpus of stories are inspired by the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and are of Javanese creation. They keep the same stereotyped characters, settings and situations and follow similar patterns. In fact, all former and latter stories make up the main part of the Javano-Balinese literary corpus, which is of a same kind, rooted in Hindu and Buddhist literature. The arts of dance, puppets and other plays are linked to these stories but also to their flavors, symbols and artistic patterns. Westernized theatrical forms, such as ketoprak, or from the Islamized areas, like bangsawan, have developed in the Malay and Javanese regions. We see at once that these new forms do not belong to the original Indic theater tradition. For instance, the repertoire of stories is foreign, coming from the Middle East or of Western historical inspiration. But of course, once in Java for a while, it is natural that some Javanese stories did eventually enter their repertoire, losing much of the color and charisma they have in their original setting of wayang and gamelan.

Reliefs The stories are also depicted on stone or wood bas-reliefs. The reliefs have a documentatory importance, giving hints about dance in ancient Java, but also about life in the island in former times. The same elements can be recognized in both the stories and the reliefs. The reliefs have another connection with dance and shadow puppets because all three follow a common artistic background. The reliefs do show actual dance poses. Events depicted on ancient stone can sometimes be recognized on the stage nowadays. East-Javanese reliefs show a strong influence from the flat puppets. Even some dances may show an influence from the flat puppets' way of moving. Here too could lie an ancient connection with India : in both countries, some styles of painting look like the flat puppets. We may also wonder whether painting, a two-dimensional art, anciently influenced the style of shadow puppets we see nowadays.

Rooted in its civilisation Music, dance, shadow play and literature are deeply rooted in the Javano-Balinese culture. This is because in Indic or Indianized cultures, dance as such is an important traditional activity and has a ritual role. This is true not only for dance but also for dance-drama and puppets : story enactments in general. Even the music, as far as at least Bali is concerned, seems to enact stories through its very rhythm controlled by the drumming ; it is like an aural relief.

About the site…	Date of this page : 3 APR 2005