Dance blends Japanese touch with Balinese

Kadek Suartaya, Contributor, Denpasar, Bali

Last April, a group of Japanese led by Chieko Komatsu visited the small village of Payangan in Gianyar regency, inviting the village farmers to collaborate on an art project.

The piece, titled Cak Amaterasu, was staged last weekend at the Bali Arts Festival, involving a dozen Japanese women and Balinese traditional cak dancers who also provided vocal accompaniment to the dance.

The choreography centered on the life of three Japanese deities, Amaterasu (god of the sun), Tsukoyomi (god of the moon), and Susanno (god of the sea). Susanno is crude and often drunk, creating a mess of the universe. Amaterasu is sad about Susanno's behavior and locks himself in a cave. As a result, the universe turns dark. Other deities tried to persuade Amaterasu to come out of the cave. Even Susanno realized his mistakes and promised to stop his bad habits. Finally, Amaterasu ended his seclusion, and lit up the universe again.

Cak, or Kecak, is one of the flexible forms of traditional performing arts in Bali. Performed for the first time in the 1930s, the dance utilizes human voices of "cak.. cak.. cak" as musical accompaniment.

Many people have mistakenly called Kecak a monkey dance since the dance's story usually derived from a war episode of King Rama and his monkey troops against the devilish King Rahwana. But in all, Cak or Kecak actually presents various stories based on local and foreign legends or mythology.

For instance, I Wayan Dibia, a famous Bali choreographer, presented the Kecak dance, which was based on Mahabharata epic story and other legends. Javanese contemporary dancer- choreographer Sardono W. Kusumo composed another form of Kecak entitled Cak Rina.

In l990, American artist Keith Terry collaborated with Dibia in creating Body Cak -- a fusion of vocal music and clapping. Five years later, Japanese music composer Yamashirogumi cleverly blended Kecak with Japanese ritual mask dances.

For the Bali Arts Festival, Chieko Komatsu and her other dancers from Japan -- who are now pursuing Balinese dance training at the Denpasar Arts Institute (STSI), combined Cak dance with elements from Japanese traditional dance and mythology. The result was an enchanting and inspiring choreography.

The one-hour performance actually focused on inter-cultural dialog, comprising elements from Japanese traditional dance and language.

All female dancers were beautifully adorned in colorful Japanese traditional costumes, Ameterasu wore a red costume with a white headscarf, Tsukuyomi wore a white kimono with a sign of a crescent on his head, while Susanno was portrayed as a scary god wearing black costume.

In a way, the Japanese mythology of the three gods was closer to the Hindu concept of Tri Murti -- three gods, Brahma the creator, Vishnu the caretaker, and Shiva the destroyer.

In Cak Amaterasu, the birth of the three gods, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanno was illustrated with the roaring voices of the Cak dancers.

Puppet master Nyoman Sukerta provided narration and dialogue in Balinese language and Kawi ancient Javanese language.

Cak Amaterasu reached its climax when the deities performed a ritual ceremony to summon Amaterasu. All Cak dancers sharply pointed their torches to the dark sky creating a magical atmosphere on the stage.

When Amaterasu appeared from his seclusion, the universe was brightened again with happiness and hope. The voice of Cak dancers thundered throughout the venue.

The message of this collaboration work was to disseminate peace and harmony to the world despite diverse cultural backgrounds and different ideologies.