Bali Performance - It may be the bewitching hour the first night with the full moon when long shadows spread like phantoms on the ground, that village crowds gather round a clearing near the temple of the dead to watch the drama of CalonArang the widow witch of Girah. Every Balinese knows the legend of Rangda as Calon Arang a favorite in local folklore.
Long ago, when Airlangga was king, there lived a widow. Calon Arang, who gave birth to a child in the jungle. The child grew up to be the famed beauty Ratna Menggali. CalonArang wanted her daughter to marry a prince from Airlangga's palace, but despite her beauty, no prince came, Angered by this, the widow learned the art of black magic and practiced it against the kingdom, causing many people to die. When Airlangga heard of the epidemic in Girah, he consulted his high priest, Mpu Bharadah. The priest sent his son to ask for the hand of Ratna Menggali. CalonArang was pleased by the offer. The plague subsided, and the couple wed.
Calon Arang had in her possession a lontar (palmleaf book) of black magic teachings. Her son-in-law one day found it and gave it to his father, who then deciphered the formulas to the widow's secret powers. When CalonArang discovered Mpu Bharadah had learned her secrets, she was enraged and declared war upon him. The priest had no choice but to fight and, in a deadly struggle of sorcery, destroyed the widow by casting a spell. Before she died, Calon Arang asked forgiveness. Mpu Bharadah absolved her deeds and showed her the way to heaven.
The story has many variations, and no two Calon Arang plays are exactly the same. Essentially, the play is a drama of magic that serves as a powerful exorcism of evil spirits aligned with the witch-queen Rangda. By dramatizing CalonArang as Rangda at the height of her magical powers, it is hoped the performance will gain the witch's favor and appease her appetite for destruction,

Calon Arang Performance on the temple 04.15 PM

Publish : BaliBestJegeg

Bali Dances - A good performance of the folk opera Arja is a social event for the entire village. Shortly before midnight, everyone gathers around an open stage to watch a long love story unfold and conclude with the dawn. Sweethearts flirt unnoticed in the back rows. Young men attentively eye their favorite actress, a woman either charmingly beautiful or extremely witty.
Arja developed around 1880 as an all male dance drama out of the traditional Gambuh; female roles were later added. With more developed plots than other plays, Arja stories are mostly drawn from classical romances of the kingdoms of medieval East Java-Kediri, Singasari and Majapahit. The leading characters of the opera are members of the court and move in the highly stylized dance of the nobility, while they sing a low, wailing cadence in poetical Balinese. As usual, their staid countenance is complemented by the unruly knockabout of the clowns.

Arja plays are packed with sentimentality and melodrama. Like so many great love stories, there is invariably some tragic issue at stake causing the lovers' union to be near impossible their families prohibit the marriage, a jealous rival makes war on the hero, the princess is captured, the hero falls in love with another woman while under a magic spell. There are always long scenes of heart rending misery. Fallen from grace, the prince may be misunderstood, beaten, kicked and thrown out of his house. His tragic song reaches the peak of suffering, while angry jeers of the healthy and well-off continue their abuse. After interminable episodes of intrigue and misfortune, the lovers are at last reunited. But by this time, excitement has fled with sorrow, and Arja quickly comes to a close.
Although, a favorite among the villagers, Arja is difficult to follow for those who cannot understand the clowns' translations. Now a days Arja has been replaced as the most popular dance-drama by the drama gong, created in the late '60s, in which acting is even more preponderant, music and dance less so.

Bali Information - The Wayang Kulit shadow play is a dramatic world in itself. Described as "society's teacher", the play is essential to Balinese education since its enormous repertoire of episodes covers all aspects of life, and shows, in silhouettes, the exemplary actions of mankind. Wayang Kulit was popular at the court of King Airlangga of East Java in the 11 th century, though it is mentioned in a Balinese inscription more than a century before that. Because of the genre's great antiquity and role, too, as a spiritual guide to the people, the shadow play is magically powerful to a high degree and is most frequently performed during religious occasions.

The dalang, the mystic storyteller of Wayang Kulit, is the true hero of the shadow theatre.His talents are far more encompassing than those of a puppeteer in the Western sense. Asidefrom directing the drama, he must have exceptional physical endurance to remain seated,continuously chanting for a time span up to six hours. He is both the conductor of the Gender Wayang orchestra (the ensemble of four xylophones which accompanies the play) and an experienced musician able to play each instrument he leads. He is a scholar of literature who has spent long years mastering the difficult Kawi language. He is an orator with a prodigious memory, enabling him to sing, in dozens of different poetical measures, episodes from the long Kawi versions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and occasionally from other stories as well. He is also an ordained priest possessing powers to ward off evil influences, make offerings, protect and s-    bless the people. This role is prominent in the daytime Wayang when the screen is replaced by a thread tied between branches of the holy dapdap tree. And he is a philosopher who presents a moral truth: good ultimately triumphs and evil meets its ruin. At night the screen is lit by a primitive oil lamp. (Fire is always used because the flickering effect of the torch enhances the motion the puppets.) To either side of the dalang his assistants who hand him the puppets during the performance. As is the custom, the dalang, begins by thrice striking the wooden box containing the puppets, in order to "wake the up". He then hands each puppet to his assistants who put them in their proper place sticking their supports in the soft trunk of the banana tree at the foot of the screen.

Wayang Gallery