'Gandangan' a fine example of sacred dance

I Wayan Juniartha and Mas Ruscitadewi, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The Balinese traditional dance of joged is known for the joyful atmosphere it creates, the sensual movements of its female dancers and the heavy erotic tone that highlights the brief encounter between the dancers and their pengibing (male partners) picked out of the audience.

In short, joged is a popular, crowd-luring, entertaining dance.

Interestingly, another kind of joged, a sacred version, still exists, and is performed in several villages in Bali. A fine example of one sacred dance, the Joged Gandangan Pingit of the Alas Angker village in Klungkung regency, was featured recently at the 24th Bali Art Festival.

The head of the traditional village of Jungut, of which the Alas Angker village belongs, Nengah Sumerta, disclosed that the Joged Gandangan Pingit was first choreographed in 1896, after the pemangku (temple priest) of the Griya Sakti Alas Angker temple fell into a deep trance. During this state, he instructed the villagers to create a special dance, which would be regularly performed at the temple's festival.

"The pemangku also specifically asked that the joged have a storyline based upon the legend of Calon Arang," Sumerta said.

Calon Arang depicts a conflict between East Java's King Airlangga and a widowed sorceress, Walu Nateng Dirah, which later turns into a bloody battle, during which Dirah casts a powerful spell that unleashes a deadly plague all over the kingdom. Only after laborious efforts by another powerful figure, a Hindu high- priest by the name of Mpu Bharadah, does the plague come under control and the sorceress is finally defeated.

The Joged Gandangan Pingit is the only dance that employs the storyline.

The dancers are carefully selected from the village's teenaged girls. The girls must be virgins, and remain chaste during their tenure as dancers, which usually is for eight years. The girls must also refrain from eating beef and pork, or participating in any burial ceremonies.

They also are required to undergo the pawintenan (purification ceremony) before learning how to dance the sacred dance for the first time.

The villagers believe that those who deliberately breach the age-old conventions are severely punished by the gods.

"Ni Nyoman Jani married secretly while she was still a Joged Gandangan Pingit dancer. She went blind after that, and that was her punishment," an 80-year-old dancer, Wayan Toen, said.

Jani was the woman who taught Toen how to perform the sacred joged.

"My teacher should have resigned from her role as a dancer before she got married instead of breaking the rules," she said.

Another rule binding the sacred dance is the one on male dance partners. Unlike the common joged, in which dancers try their best to lure the male members of the audience into actively participating, Joged Gandangan Pingit strictly prohibits this kind of interaction.

"The spirit of the dance does not approve of this type of participation. Bad things happen when a male member of the audience forces his way onto the stage," said a local, Anak Agung Gde Putra.

When a man jumped onto the stage during the Bali Art Festival in 1997, and joined in the Joged Gandangan Pingit, the dancer instantly fell to the floor, and lied there unconscious for some time. It was a strong sign of disapproval for the unfortunate man.

On another occasion, the dancer did not fall down or lose consciousness. Instead, it was the man that was paralyzed, and he was unable to move any part of his body by the spirit. All he could manage to do was stand on the stage, motionless, and hear laughter from the audience, while the dancer continued her beautiful sweeping movements just a few meters away.

Yet during a recent performance on the Angsoka stage in Denpasar's Werddhi Budaya Art Center compound, a man, dressed in a white traditional costume, managed to get onstage and dance with a Joged Gandangan Pingitan dancer.

Surprisingly, the dancer did not fall down, and the man was not paralyzed. Has the spirit mellowed after all these years?

"Of course nothing happened to him or her, since the man is, in fact, none other than the pemangku of the Griya Sakti Alas Angker temple, the home temple of this sacred joged," another man in the audience pointed out.

This explained his white costume, elegant movements and polite attitude toward the dancer.

As in other forms of the sacred dance, a small ritual, in which the dancers and musicians present an offering and pray, was held prior to the performance. Another similar ritual was held after the performance.

The offering and the prayer were directed to Ida Benari and Ida Benari Lingsir -- two celestial beings believed to be the spiritual patrons of the dance.

A bem (bamboo instrument) is believed to be the physical manifestation of Ida Bedari Lingsir, while the flowery and intricate headgear worn by the dancers is believed to be the throne of Ida Bedari. That's the reason why the whole troupe treats the bem and headgear with a deep sense of respect.

Unlike the common joged, which is characterized by swift and sometimes seductive movements, the Joged Gandangan Pingit's movements are gentle and refined. It invokes a sense of solemn adoration among the audience, instead of a burning excitement triggered by the common joged.

"It is a dance, a performance to glorify the gods, and not to entertain the mortals. Period," one member of an audience concluded.

The Joged Gandangan Pingit dance is performed only twice a year during the festival held every six months at the Griya Sakti Alas Angker temple.