Balinese Dance, Drama & Music. I Wayan Dibia
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Learning
Since the 1960s, it has been possible for the more serious student to specialize in one of three fields—dance, music or shadow puppetry—at SMKI (Sekolah Menengah Karawitan Indonesia or High School of Performing Arts) or at ISI (Institut Seni Indonesia or Indonesian Arts Institute). SMKI was formed in 1960 with the purpose of producing teachers who would return to their villages and help develop the performing arts. ISI began in 1967 as ASTI (Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia or the Indonesian Dance Academy) and is still often called that although its status changed to the College of Indonesian Arts (Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia or STSI) in 1988 and to ISI in 2003.
The original goal of SMKI (then KOKAR) was to create teachers as well as to preserve traditional forms and develop new ones. Graduates brought back to their village what they had learned, and local versions were neglected and eventually forgotten. Students at both schools are extremely well trained in a variety of art forms with a myriad of teachers so they no longer follow one teacher's style, but have the "school" style.
During the Soeharto era (1966-98), ASTI/STSI/ISI became known as the Super-Sekaa because it was called upon by the central government in Jakarta to produce extravaganzas with hundreds of performers. Since the economic crisis of 1998, those performances have faded into memory. Some of the most innovative performance comes out of STSI today. Composers are given free rein to create and are encouraged to collaborate with other musicians and performance artists from all over the world (see pp. 102-3).
Visitors are welcome on the campuses. Classes are held Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. See Resource Guide for details (see p. 105).
The Role of Television in Learning
The latest "teacher" is television. Once a week, a show called "Bina Tari" (Preserving Dance) is aired on the local TVRI station in Denpasar. Started by Ni Ketut Arini Alit in 1979, it demonstrated basic steps and some of the more popular dances so people in remote villages could learn them as well. Today it is carried on by the popular teacher I Nyoman Suarsa. As not everyone has a gamelan in their banjar, cassettes have become a popular way to learn. "How to learn" cassettes repeat the same song over and over again, making it easy to practice the dances. Needless to say, this has assisted in the standardization process.
Rituals for Dancers
Traditionally, a serious student of dance has a number of rituals to observe. The first is the mesakapan where the student becomes "married" to the mask or head-dress (gelungan) of the particular dance form being studied. Often this ritual is performed for a gamelan club to marry musicians to instruments so they will feel just like a family and their playing will be compact and harmonious.
Melaspas is a ritual to purify a new object and transform the original material into a new entity. For example, a headdress made of leather now becomes a performer's crown. The wood of a mask is reborn as a personage. The object's status changes from ordinary to sacred. Often a dancer takes those objects to a priest to be blessed in a ceremony called pasupati, in which they are infused with magical power. From that time onward, the object must not touch the impure ground and must be handled with reverence.
Mewinten is a ritual to purify a person rather than an object. The person gains a higher status. There are various levels of mewinten. Those who want to learn the sacred songs and stories in the traditional palm leaf manuscripts (lontar) must go through a mewinten. Dalang or puppeteers are purified in a number of mewinten, as they are considered to be priests once they have completed their training. This ritual enables the performer to become one with the object (headdress, mask, puppet or instrument). The three levels are mewinten alit (simple purification) with flowers; mewinten madya (middle purification), usually performed inside a temple, and the final stage is mewinten agung (large purification) that consists of staying three to four days in a temple and being blessed with copious amounts of holy water and offerings. This is usually reserved for priests, but Topeng Pajegan (solo mask) dancers are encouraged to complete all three.
Preparing for a Performance
Serious performers recite a number of prayers before they perform. According to I Ketut Kodi, a well-known dalang and Topeng actor, before performing he first prays at home in his family temple where he asks for taksu (spiritual energy) for his performance to be a success. At the performance site, he prays to the deity residing in the local temple and receives holy water. Before going on stage or beginning his puppet show, he asks the inhabitants of the space for their permission for the performance. The many spirits lurking about which can cause mischief must be placated. Then he blesses the objects he will use (masks and puppets) with simple offerings, invoking their spirit. At the conclusion of the show, he conducts another small ceremony to send the spirits back home.
Probably no more than three or four years old, this young male Kebyar dancer, at his first recital, has already mastered the basic stance and moves.
Final exam for Kebyar Duduk at the Warini dance studio, Art Centre, Denpasar. Part of learning dance is performing in front of your peers and family in a very public space. These events are open to the public and often televised on one of the two local Balinese television stations. Aside from the pride of being on stage, there is always the chance of snagging a trophy for being in the top three!
Before the first notes of a concert are struck, the gamelan must be blessed, usually by the local priest or someone in the gamelan group itself. The spirit of the large gong is invoked so that good sounds will be produced. All of the musicians are blessed with holy water. The instruments are believed to have souls and must not be stepped over.
A dalang also performs numerous rituals on the day of a performance. On leaving the house, mantras or prayers are said. Before entering the stage area, he notices out of which nostril his breath is strongest: if the right, Brahma will perform, if the left, Wisnu, and if equal, Iswara or Siwa will do the honors. Once behind the screen, offerings are made, the space is sprinkled with holy water and the gods are asked to descend to witness the performance.
For those performers involved in more magically dangerous roles, such as Rangda, along with the men and women who may try to stab her (see pp. 70-5), there are certain prohibitions they must abide by for 24 hours prior to the ritual. These include not eating certain foods, abstaining from sexual relations and avoiding a corpse.
Dance Movements
"But what does it all mean?" This is a common lament heard among visitors when watching Balinese dance for the first or fiftieth time. With so many hand gestures, eye movements and stances, it is difficult to decipher the meaning. Balinese hand gestures are not storytelling movements as in East Indian dance; rather, they embellish expressions of the body. All movements are done on both the right and left sides to establish harmony and cohesion.
Elegant in positioning, Balinese hand gestures are used to emphasize emotional expression.
Most Balinese dance movements are abstract, even in those dances which tell a story. The movements have little to do with the progression of the plot. The Balinese love seeing how well a performer executes and interprets a dance. It is similar to watching a performance of the Nutcracker; it is not so much the story as the skill of the dancers that is compelling. What is important is that special quality of a performer which can transport the audience to a different sphere, something known as taksu (spiritual charisma) (see p. 11).
Agem
The pokok (foundation) of the dance is an asymmetrical basic stance or agem. In right agem, the body weight is on the right foot with the left foot in a modified third position or 45 degrees in front of the right foot. The torso is shifted to the right with the shoulder blades squeezed together—giving the back that typically arched look of female