'Kecak' dance delights Swiss audience
'Kecak' dance delights Swiss audience
By I Kadek Suartaya
LUCERNE, Switzerland (JP): The beautiful city of Lucerne in Switzerland hosted a multicultural world music festival, and Bali presented one of its unique dance performances -- Cak or kecak.
This dynamic dance was recently performed by 45 students and lecturers from the Denpasar Arts Institute (STSI Denpasar) led by I Wayan Dibia, STSI's professor of arts.
The artists sat, danced and sang in a floating amphitheater at the Lion Monument tourist site in Lucerne. The backdrop was a wide sloping on which was a big lion statue with a spear stabbing its chest. Big shade trees also formed a line around the stage, an appropriate setting for performing the kecak dance.
The kecak dance is based on an ancient dance chorus tradition. It is frequently performed in Balinese villages after nightfall. The dance scenes started with dozens of men sitting in a circle around a large oil lamp humming the syllables cak ... cak ... cak with a strong rhythmic distinctness.
The dance became so popular when German painter Walter Spies, who settled in Bali in the l920s, modified this ritual and ages old dance to become a tourist attraction.
Spies included stories from the famous Indian Ramayana epic, usually the episode of Sinta's abduction in which Sinta, the wife of King Rama, is kidnapped by the devilish King Rahwana. Kecak dancers are portrayed as Rama's faithful monkey troops.
The Lucerne performance, titled Kiskenda Wiwara, an episode of Ramayana, tells the story of the feuding brothers Subali and Sugriwa -- both the kings of monkeys.
The story begins when the god of Indra asks the two brothers to kill the monstrous Maessura in a dark cave. Subali, the eldest, enters the cave and defeats the monster. But then the cave is sealed by Sugriwa because he sees red blood streaming from inside the cave.
Before Subali enters the cave, he tells his younger brother to seal the cave if he sees white blood streaming from the cave.
Subali is very angry and jealous because Sugriwa will think he is dead and his younger brother will ascend to the throne and will marry his beautiful queen, Dewi Tara.
With his god-like power, Subali manages to leave the cave and challenge his younger brother. In a battle, King Rama helps Sugriwa by shooting his brother with an arrow.
The show centers on the Subali-Sugriwa tragedy which was framed in Cak theater dance. Vocal elements play significant points in animating the dance. The words ... cak ... cak ... cak are very rhythmical. The dance incorporates energetic movements accentuated by vigorous yet harmonious oral music.
The performance of the Balinese dance in such a big cultural event, which brought together musicians and artists from around the world, was expected to improve the tarnished image of Indonesia.