'Calonarang', Bali's surviving witch dance
By Kadek Suartaya
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Bali boasts a classic witch dance called Calonarang. This rare hair-raising opera is usually performed near a cemetery to retain its magical image.
The latest performance took place on Friday night outside Dalem Gede Temple, Sukawati village, Gianyar, about 15 kilometers east of Denpasar, under a banyan tree in the middle of a cemetery.
Titled Ngeseng Waringin (Burning Down the Banyan Tree), it was performed by the Tedung Agung theater group under Cokorda Putra Sukawati from Ubud.
Directed by I Wayan Rai S., Ngeseng Waringin is the story of a war between the invincible widow Calonarang and Mpu Bharadah. The climax of the fight between black magician Calonarang and the spiritual hero is a contest of burning down a banyan tree and then reviving it.
The opera is believed to have started in 1825. It features a tingga, Calonarang's elevated house built on one side of the arena, and a gedang renteng, a kind of papaya tree at the center of the arena where Calonarang shows off her supernatural power.
The story of Calonarang has its origin in the Kahuripan Kingdom under King Airlangga in the 11th century. In the course of its development, the opera has gone through several changes and deviations from the original version.
For example, in the modern Calonarang appears a character called Rangda, the hideous transformation of Calonarang, while in the original literary version, rangda means widow.
It seems that the literary source has been used as a mere guideline. In practice, the performance has been adapted to the Balinese culture and the leak (witches) have prominence.
The Calonarang dance has also attracted the attention of many international researchers.
Beryl de Zoete and Walter Spies in their book Dance and Drama in Bali (1973), Urs Ramseyer in The Art and Culture of Bali (1977), Soedarsono in Jawa dan Bali, Dua Pusat Perkembangan Drama Tari Tradisional di Indonesia (Java and Bali, the Two Centers of Traditional Opera Development in Indonesia, 1972), and I Made Bandem and Fredrik de Boer in Kaja and Kelod Balinese Dance in Transition (1981), all present Calonarang as the drama of magic.
Antonin Artaud, a prominent French dramatist, created an "accidental theater" concept which was reportedly inspired by Calonarang. Artaud and other European dramatists were spellbound by a Calonarang dance that Balinese artists performed at the Paris Colonial Exhibition in 1931. The Balinese dance troupe was led by Cokorda Gede Raka Sukawati.
Artaud's works No More Master Pieces and The Theater and Plague were evidently inspired by Calonarang. Sardono W. Kusumo, a Javanese choreographer, is also an admirer of Calonarang drama. His work Dongeng dari Dirah (Tale from Dirah) was inspired by the Balinese dance.
The climax of the Calonarang story occurs shortly after midnight with the scene madusang-dusangan (bathing the corpse).
The "dead" person is bathed in a real Balinese traditional ceremony, complete with offerings. While the body is bathed, there appears a leak, a hideous devil who is Calonarang's accomplice, disrupting the ceremony. This is the most awaited frightening scene.
Leak is usually acted by a Balinese black magician. In Modern Bali, the presence of leak remains magical. In everyday life, it is believed that leak can appear in the dark of night to disturb people. In local superstition, leak can make people fall ill. There have been cases where someone is mobbed to death on suspicion of practicing leak black magic.
Although leak is scary, it brings financial benefit to some people, too. At Sukawati art market, near the show's venue, vendors offered leak masks at low prices.
Masks of scary Barong and Rangda, two main characters in Calonarang are also widely available.