Bali Photos of the Week ~ Kecak Dance

Hello! Om Swastiastu!

The Bali photos from this week depict the famous Kecak Dance (pronounced keh-chak). Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, Fire and Trance Dance, among other names, this spectacular dance is comprised of dozens of performers, sometimes numbering in the hundreds. A little secret about the dance is that its not actually a traditional dance and a westerner had his hands in the development of the performance. Despite that, it is a dance worth seeing as it is powerful and is representational of several other traditional dance styles in Bali. A large influence in the creation of the Kecak, was the traditional trance-inducing exorcism dance called Sanghyang. Think of Kecak as a “Greatest Hits” of Balinese traditional dance.

The dramatic dance recounts the tale from the Hindu epic Ramayana of Princess Sita being kidnapped by the evil King of Lanka, Ravana, and rescued by the hero, Prince Rama. Unlike traditional dances in Bali, The Kecak is not accompanied by a gamelon orchestra. Instead dozens of barely clad men percussively chant “cak” (pronounced chak).

The German painter and long time resident of Bali, Walter Spies, is credited in having a hand in its development in the 1930s, but others say this style of dance was already gaining in popularity before the ‘bule‘ arrived on Bali.

The dance also includes men walking and dancing on hot coals (burning coconut shells) and kicking fire balls at each other. Some go into trance during the dance as well. More on trance in Bali in upcoming blog posts.

Want to see dances like this and witness traditional ceremonies in Bali?

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