Legong
Legong
is a traditional Balinese dance form based on movements from the
ceremonial dance. While Legong is still performed in ceremonies, there
are form that are more secular in nature. For example,
Joged dances are true popular dance
forms in Bali performed for entertainment; traditionally they were done
in the street or the village square.
 In 2000, the dancers of Gamelan Sekar Jaya
performed a dance called Oleg
Tambulilingan ("Bumblebee" Dance) -- for
one female and one male dancer, accompanied
by gamelan joged (small
ensemble of bamboo marimbas, drum and other percussion). The
dance
depicts the courtship of two bees in a garden of flowers. The female
dancer
appears first, in a short, composed dance section that
highlights the beauty of her
movements. The "male" character (nowadays
performed by either a male or female
dancer) appears in the second
section, and the two engage in a partly choreographed,
partly
improvised dance depicting their courtship. They are accompanied by one
or
two bamboo marimbas (or metallophones) playing lively syncopated
rhythms, a small
gong-type instrument, and a conical two- sided
"kendang" drum. The drummer's role is
especially important, as he
responds to the dancer's spontaneous movements with
sudden accents, or
changes in tempo or dynamics.
The music and
choreography
for this work were originally composed by Pan Sukra and I Nyoman
Maria,
respectively, for the famous 1951-2 American and British tour of
the
music/dance troupe from the village of Peliatan, Bali. They re-adapted
many
elements from a series of stylistically similar dances created in
the 1930s, 40s and
50s. This version, in turn, was re-arranged for the
2000 performance by Sekar Jaya's
guest artistic directors Dewa Berata
and Nyoman Cerita, replacing the original large
gamelan orchestra with
a small bamboo ensemble that is often used to accompany a very
similar
dance of flirtation known as joged. |
