(Above) Sita walking towards the infamous healing old man.
As is so happened, my airport ride and I miscommunicated (I arrived at midnight, making it the 10th but Balinese still consider this the 9th) so no one showed up to get me I arrived in Bali. But the man sitting next me on my flight (a trader in Bali) actually predicted as much before I even arrived in Bali and he had me travel with him back to Ubud!
And as fate would have it, our driver was a Kecak dancer. So, this is how I ended up seeing Kecak dance my first night in Bali.
Kecak Dance is performed twice a week in Bali for tourists of course, along with Fire or Trance Dance (dance in which a man with a fake horse on this back walks across coconuts on fire! It's absolutely ridiculous!) These Bali tourist dances such as Kecak, Legong, Barong, to name a few, are not like the ceremony dances that Balinese attend, they are shorter and made for a foreigner. However, they still worth seeing for they display artistic talent and cutural history.
In any case, Kecak is unique because there is no gamelan orchestra accompanying it. Instead, a troupe of over 150 bare-chested men serve as the chorus, making synchronized "chak-achak-achak" or "shi, shi, shei" or "OM" clicking sounds while swaying their bodies and waving their hands.
Taken from the Hindu epic Ramayana, the dance tells the story of Prince Rama and his rescue of Princess Sita, who has been kidnapped by the evil King of Lanka.
I could not help being impressed by how well story is portrayed through simple sounds and gestures. It is also quite funny and male chorus really enjoys themselves. One man in particular was so cute, he smiled the entire performance!
As is so happened, my airport ride and I miscommunicated (I arrived at midnight, making it the 10th but Balinese still consider this the 9th) so no one showed up to get me I arrived in Bali. But the man sitting next me on my flight (a trader in Bali) actually predicted as much before I even arrived in Bali and he had me travel with him back to Ubud!
And as fate would have it, our driver was a Kecak dancer. So, this is how I ended up seeing Kecak dance my first night in Bali.
Kecak Dance is performed twice a week in Bali for tourists of course, along with Fire or Trance Dance (dance in which a man with a fake horse on this back walks across coconuts on fire! It's absolutely ridiculous!) These Bali tourist dances such as Kecak, Legong, Barong, to name a few, are not like the ceremony dances that Balinese attend, they are shorter and made for a foreigner. However, they still worth seeing for they display artistic talent and cutural history.
In any case, Kecak is unique because there is no gamelan orchestra accompanying it. Instead, a troupe of over 150 bare-chested men serve as the chorus, making synchronized "chak-achak-achak" or "shi, shi, shei" or "OM" clicking sounds while swaying their bodies and waving their hands.
Taken from the Hindu epic Ramayana, the dance tells the story of Prince Rama and his rescue of Princess Sita, who has been kidnapped by the evil King of Lanka.
I could not help being impressed by how well story is portrayed through simple sounds and gestures. It is also quite funny and male chorus really enjoys themselves. One man in particular was so cute, he smiled the entire performance!
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