Balinese children dance for spiritual life, money

Balinese children dance for spiritual life, money

Text and photos by Intan Petersen

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Ni Luh is eight years old and very shy. It is 9 p.m. and the sleepy girl would have already been in bed if she didn't have to dance. She sits with her chin leaning on her hand. Sometime she smiles, but carefully, mindful of her glossy pink lipstick. The golden headdress perched on top of her head obviously strains her.

Made, a confident 15-year-old professional, looks very relaxed and keeps joking with the other dancers. Both children are waiting to perform at a hotel in Nusa Dua.

Ni Luh and Made are two of hundreds of Balinese children who earn money by dancing at hotels. Balinese dance is available in almost every hotel in Bali. The most popular shows are the Ramayana ballet and Legong dance which accompany the guests during dinner.

Little Ni Luh loves to dance, but it's very hard work. After a day at school, it's tiring to go to lessons and to perform at night.

"When I started to learn to dance two years ago, my body ached terribly," she says.

"But I am very happy to dance," she adds. "Even if one day the hotel doesn't hire us, my friends and I will keep dancing. We will dance forever," she laughs.

"I've performed many times at the Hilton and Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and sometimes at official government functions," she says with pride. "Each performance lasts an hour and I get Rp 4,000. I also perform in my village, but that is only when we have an odalan ceremony in our temple," she explains.

"If I dance twice a week, I will get Rp 8,000. On Mondays I usually bring my money to school and give it to my teacher for the compulsory school savings," Ni Luh says.

"I don't like spending my money on snacks like other children do," she says with a well-rehearsed smile.

Like many other small children, Ni Luh has joined a banjar dance group in her hometown. Every Balinese belongs to a neighborhood association, the banjar. Membership depends on the size of the neighborhood but can reach several hundred. The dance groups are always involved in the temple activities of the banjar. The children will usually perform the Rejang dance, a mass temple ceremony dance, or an odalan.

Since the Rejang dance isn't complicated, it is easy to see which parents have not taught their children to dance. Therefore, to keep face, many children learn to perform just the Rejang dance.

Wayan and his brother Kadek first danced at a temple ceremony before dancing in hotels. Both have been dancing since they were toddlers.

"We are paid Rp 7,500 for every performance at the Grand Hyatt Bali and Galleria Nusa Dua," said Kadek.

"We use the money to pay our school fees and the rest goes to buy our stage make-up. We have to do our own make-up, and small children must have somebody to do that for them," Wayan said.

"Some small children get dizzy while dancing, because of the heavy flower arrangement on their heads, plus the hairdo. It is easier for boys since they don't have to worry about their hairstyle," Kadek added.

Both Wayan and Kadek are experts in the complicated Kebyar Duduk dance. Students of the dance are not allowed to move their hands for five minutes and a selendang (long shawl) is tied around their necks and armpits so to keep their arms raised.

"I remember when I started learning at the age of six. I used to be very tired after practicing; my body ached and when I got home I immediately went to bed," Kadek recalls.

"It is best if they start young, at seven years old," says Ketut Arini, a prominent Balinese dance teacher in Denpasar and the owner of the Sanggar Warini dance school.

Lessons are given twice a week for every level. A beginners class lasts six months.

"In the beginning it is painful for a small child to control his or her body and so many children complain of pain," Ketut Arini says.

"And many of them are yet to learn which is left and right," she laughs.

"Normally, after the first painful year, they will learn to twist their bodies into seemingly impossible positions," Ketut Arini assures.

The children's bodies are literally pulled into the correct shapes by their teacher; with time, they learn to feel the music and move with it, and direct their bodies into various positions. Young girls are usually taught condong, pendet and panyembrahma dances. Of the three, the condong dance needs the most control and balance.

Sanggar Warini has 350 students divided into four classes. Each student pays Rp 4,000 per month to attend the school that was founded in 1969.

Balinese dance remains an integral part of the island and its people. Teaching each generation the delicate art ensures the continuance of the spiritual heart of Bali.

Balinese dance can be either entertainment or a ritual only performed at temple ceremonies. Among the rituals are the Sanghyang and Baris Gede dances.

Today, Balinese dance classes are filled with little girls learning the Legong dance while the little boys master the Baris dance. Ni Luh, Made, Kadek and Wayan will never stop dancing.

"This is our life," they assure.

Little Ni Luh and her friends perform the dance for all they're worth. They concentrate on every movement made as if they were dancing for the gods rather than the tourists.