Ramayana ballet

The Ramayana has long been rendered on the Balinese stage through the Wayang Wong, a classical dance-drama enacting scenes from the Hindu epic in sequel performances over a period of three or four days, A few years ago, a new dance interpretation of the Ramayana, was introduced the island by Kokar, the Conservator of Instrumental Arts and Dance. Accompanied by the gamelan gong orchestra, the Ramayana Ballet is a unique mixture of traditional dace technique and modern motifs of slapstick comedy. The story opens in the forest, of dandaka where Rama, Laksmana and Sita have transformed their banishment into a peaceful life in the woods. Because of their ideal beauty, the royal brothers are usually danced by women: Rama wearing a golden crown and Laksmana a black head dress. Their manner is stately and heroic the refined, style of dance reserved for regal personal. In contrast to their noble bearing, the demon king Rawana takes large, dynamic steps a fiery mode of dance which shows the grandiloquent arrogance of a tyrant.

Frequently, it is the animals of the Ramayana Ballet who steal the show. In Balinese theatre, animals have license to improvise fantastic dance styles of their own. One remembers the golden deer that gaily prances before Rama yet always manages to slip from his grasp, the brave Jatayu bird that vainly attempts to rescue Sita, and, of course, the inevitable monkey business. Freed from social, the monkeys may wheel about creating the most comical situations. Hanuman, the monkey general, outwits two horrific cleverly maneuvering out of their way, so that they end up knocking each other out. Aside from delighting in this comic relief, the Balinese are extremely tolerant of their performers a charging monkey, by mistake, fall on his tail, he is all the more hilarious to his attentive audience.

The two great Hindu epics, the Ramayana (Story of Prince Rama) and the Mahabharata (War of the Bharatas), have been dear to 1he hearts of Asians for over a thousand years. Translated from Sanskrit into Kawi, the old Javanese language of literature, these Immortal poems continue to inspire the arts and stimulate the imaginations of Indonesians with a world of heroism and adventure. In Bali , artists reinterpret the epics in stone relief's, woodcarvings, ink drawings and paintings. Delighted crowds gather to watch the Wayang Kulit puppets cast shadows of mystical princes and monsters across the screen, to the chanting of a storyteller. In the classical play Wayang Wong, in the contemporary Ramayana Ballet and in the choral drama of the modern Kecak, or Monkey Dance, the tales from these epics are reenacted with great enthusiasm and appreciated by viewers who find beauty in their many interpretations.

The reason for the popularity of the Ramayana and Mahabharatha goes deeper than mere entertainment. One main theme of Hindu literature in Bali is the symbolic struggle between absolute good and absolute evil. The principal characters and their allies are defined on a moral basis. Rama, hero of the Ramayana, is a reincarnation of Vishnu, the Preserver, and embodies the ideal of manly virtues: strength, endurance, love and devotion to truth. His wives, Sita, is the ideal of womanly faithfulness and marital love, while his companion and brother, Laksmana, personifies fraternal courage and loyalty. Rama's antagonist, Rawana, the many headed demon king with a retinue of giants, revels in lust, deceit, and hatred. The opposition between hero and fiend could be no more extreme.

Where the Ramayana illuminates the ethics human relationships, the Mahabharata sings of the glorious exploits and deeds of battle in the war of the Bharathas (an ethnic name for he ancient, warlike races of Northern India ). The verses ring of dazzling feats of warriors unconquerable, tournaments of princes, daring escapes from death, and merci-less revenge in a bloody feud between two rival royal houses. The heroes of the epic are the noble Pandawas, five brothers of divine birth who are the models of goodness and virtue. They fight against their hundred cousins, the perfidious Korawas. Led by their wicked king Duryodana, the Korawas are the apotheosis of greed and jealousy.

As the adventures of a wandering prince exiled from his kingdom, the Ramayana can be likened to the Odyssey of ancient Greece ; while the Mahabharata, as a saga of fiery episodes based upon a great historical war, recalls the Iliad. In both Hindu epics is woven a thread of high moral purpose the ultimate triumph of virtue and subjugation of vice. Every episode performed on stage or portrayed in art is, in away, a parable relevant to present-day Indonesia . Heroes of the epics are much more than fictional characters to the people. Each defines both a personality and a way of behavior. Many times an Indonesian describes a friend by likening him to a mythological hero, as "he is powerful and strong willed, like the warrior Bima" (hero of the Mahabharata).

The oldest version of the Ramayana, attributed to the Indian sage Valmiki, was written around the 3rd or 4th century B.C. The Mahabharata, ascribed to the poet Vyasa, probably reached its present form in the 4th century A.D., though parts are many centuries older. Through the ages poets infused the theme of the epics with additions, until they grew to monumental proportions. The present version of the Ramayana in India consists of 24,000 verses divided into 500 songs; the Mahabharata, probably the longest single poem of world literature, is nearly 90,000 stanzas in its final form. The Indonesian translations written during the Hindu era in Central and East Java are among the most beautiful poems in Old Javanese literature. The following are brief synopses of the epics, in prose. Quotations are from translations by the late Romesh C. Dutt.

STORY OF PRINCE RAMA In the kingdom of Kosala, near the Himalayas . Reigned King Dasarata who had four sons Rama, Barata, Laksmana and Saturgna. Raised in wisdom and righteousness, the princes lived always in harmony and were an endless source of happiness to the king and his people. At a great age, Dasarata realized lie must give up his throne. He told his subjects to prepare for the coronation of his eldest son, Rama.

The populace joyously embellished the capital with decorations for the momentous occasion. Yet there was one unmoved by the general enthusiasm. Kekayi, Dasarata's second wife and mother of Barata, fostered secret ambitions for her own son. Urged by her wicked servant Muntara, she reminded the king he owed her two, unfulfilled vows. Now she made her demands: that Barata must be king and Rama banished for fourteen years to the forest of Dandaka .

The king, trembling, with sorrow and rage could not revoke his promises and, forthwith announced Kekayi's requests as royal commands. Rama, respectfully obeying his roya father, prepared to go. As he was leaving, Sita, ran to the gate, begging permission to accompany him. Rama refused because of the danger, and hardships of the forest, but Sita replied from her heart:

For my mother often told me

And my father often spake,

That her home the wedded woman

Doth beside her husband make,

As the shadow to the substance,

To her lord is faithful wife

And she parts not from her consort

'Till she parts with fleeting fife.

Laksmana also insisted on following. Finally Rama consented and the three started for the forest.

The kingdom of Kosala grieved. The king overcome by sadness, soon fell ill and died everyone went into mourning Kekayi too mourned, but only in pretence. As soon as time permitted, she approached their son. Much to her dismay, Barata steadfastly refused crown and ruled the kingdom only as Rama'

WAR OFTHE BHARATAS Once there lived two families of the kuru clan descended from Bharatha: the Pandawas and the Korawas. The Korawas, "wrathful sons of Drestarastra, born of Kuru royal race.' Were the hundred sons of blind king Drestarastra. The five Pandawa brothers," righteous son of noble Pandu, god born man of god like grace," were the sons of the king's brother Pandu, who ruled the kingdom his brother's name.

Pandu's sons were of semi-divine origin The eldest son, Yudistira, a man of truth and piety, was descended from Dharma, god of virtue; the dauntless warrior Bima was descended from Bayu, god of the wind; Arjuna,the peerless archer, from Indra,god of the rains; and the twins Nakula and Sahadewa from the celestial Aswin twins. Pandu's wife gave birth to yet another son, Karna, begotten by the sun god Surya, but his origin remained hidden and he joined the Korawas, becoming their war lord and the chief opponent of his half brother Arjuna.

While Pandu ruled for his brother, the cousins grew up together. In every contest between the families, the Pandawas were victorious. The Korawas grew more jealous and revengeful with the years. When Pandu died, the old blind king appointed Yudistira, his eldest nephew, as heir to the throne. His own enraged by the ruthless Duryodana, contrived a plot to destroy the sons of Pandu

One day the Pandawas and their mother were persuaded to pay a visit to a distant town where a special resting place had been constructed the appointed hour the house burst into flames the brothers and their motherbarely escaped through an underground tunnel and fled to the forest. In the wilderness the Pandawas,hearing of a contest for the hand of a princess, journeyed to the kingdom ruled by King Drupada. Arjuna easily defeated all his rivals and won the princess Drupadi. The sons returned to a potter's house where they lodged and told their mother they had received a great gift that day. Not knowing what it was, their mother replied, "Enjoy ye the gift in common.". Thus Drupadi became the wife, of all the brothers. Later they all had other wives as well. Arjuna married the sister of King Krishna (an incarnation of the god Vishnu).

Meanwhile the devious Duryodana learned of the failure of his plot, and that his cousins had found powerful allies in Drupada and Krishna . Finding that he could not keep the Pandawas from their inheritance, Duryodana retained the richer eastern province of the kingdom; the sons of Pandu were allowed the wilderness to the west. The Pandawas soon cleared the forest and built a new capital, Ngamatra (supposedly the present day region of Delhi ). Yudistira, king of Ngamatra, proclaimed a sacrifice to declare his sovereignty over all kings of India , and his brothers set out in all directions to proclaim his rule. The hundred Korawa brothers and their aging father also attended, but did so in great humiliation and envy.

Duryodana returned from the Imperial Sacrifice burning with jealousy. Determined to secure the ruin of the Pandawas, he gained the assistance of a prince who shared in his hatred Sakuni, an expert at loading dice. They knew Yudistira had one incurable weakness: a love for gambling. Sakuni challenged Yudistira who lost game after game. With each loss his recklessness increased and the stakes went higher. Yudistira forfeited everything-wealth, steeds, elephants, his slaves and possessions and, lastly, his kingdom. In a final gamble he staked himself, his brothers, and even the princess Drupadi, against Sakuni and lost!

Duryodana, eager to claim the Pandawas as slaves, was persuaded by his father to soften the claim to banishment. Yet the exile was a harsh one: the Pandawas must go into twelve years of hiding and one year of concealment among the common people. If their identity be discovered in the thirteenth year, they were to be exiled for another twelve years.

The Pandawas then passed twelve years banished in the wilderness. During this time, King Duryodana, still not satisfied with his revenge, decided to appear before them in full regalia and splendor. Unfortunately, along the way, he was taken captive in a skirmish with aerial sprites. The Pandawas heard of his plight, rescued him and allowed him to return to his kingdom; but this act of generosity only deepened Duryodana's hatred and jealousy.

After twelve years, the sons of Pandu went into concealment among the common people by serving a distant king under false names. Yudistira disguised himself as a Brahman courtier and dice expert, Bima became a palace cook, Arjuna put on bangles and earrings and posed as a eunuch, Nakula a stable keeper, and Sahadewa a cowherd. They retained these identities for one year as was their bargain, and then demanded the return of their kingdom. Duryodana refused, saying that no land, "not even a spot which a needle's point can cover", shall be given them.

In council with Krishna , the Pandawas decided to recapture their kingdom by force. The great war of the Bharatas ensued. For eighteen days the skies were dark with clouds of arrows, and the earth thundered with the clashes of charioteers and cavalry. Arjuna's dialogue with his charioteer and ally Krishna , to whom turned in anguish, foreseeing the massacre of his kin, is described in the renowned Bhagavad Gita in which the agony of war is shown as an inward personal loss. The venerated teachers of both families were killed, as were the younger heroes, Arjuna's and Bima's sons. Then the undefeated rivals, Arjuna and Karna met in mortal combat. Arjuna revenged the death of. His: on with that of his arch-enemy. Bima and Duryodana, "like two bulls that fight the fury, blind with wounds and oozing blood", fought on until Duryodana fell dead. Later, the women of Kuru visited the battlefield to mourn the fallen. The epic ends with the people of Kuru returning home with desolate hearts.

In a pavilion near the temple, the dancer meticulously adds the finishing touches to his make-up-a curve to the eyebrow, three dots on each temple, a red spot between the eyes. He gives a last glance to the mirror and moves to his place. A signal and the gamelan strike a dynamic chord. Quivering fingers appear from behind the temple gate, until a fare emerges with painted eyes and a curious smile. The dancer has already lost his personal identity in the dramatic character who cautiously peers from behind the gate, moves slightly forward with hesitating glances, as if he were passing through an imaginary screen in to another existence the spiritual world of the dance.

For the Balinese, the theatre is not a profession. Aside from those who perform music and dancing, the village creates a theatre for the enjoyment of the community. Those who perform on stage by night lead normal lives in the village by day as farmers, fishermen, goldsmiths, woodcarvers, or whatever their vocations. Theatre is seen as an integral part of life. It is at one with the rituals that fasten society. Birthdays, weddings, temple festivals, processions to the sea, and purification ceremonies are all occasions for dramatic entertainment.

The origin of Balinese theatre is a religious one. Just as a temple offering is food made beautiful to present as a divine feast, so a temple dance offers the motions of daily life made beautiful as a gift to visiting deities during temple festivals. Good music, splendid costumes, fine dancing and drama give pleasure both to divine guest and village audiences. Religious dances serve as ceremonial offering and dedication in the temple. Many forms of contemporary drama, such as the exorcism plays, function also as a bridge between the mundane and the Spiritual world.

Because of their religious significance, dances and plays are const2ntly revived by the community. An adult will have seen certain play hundreds of times there form it is at all important that a drama begins at the beginning and of the end. Often an episode enhanced is only a small part of a very long story. As soon as the play starts, a Balinese recognizes the story an automatically views it in its popper perspective. If a golden deer appears, he immediately knows the story is from the Ramayana, that Sita will soon be kidnapped, but eventually rescued.

Since they know all the tales and dances by heart the people feel perfectly at home watching a performance. They are not on edge to see what happens next, and may stand for hour's t growing tired or impatient. Elaborate props and sets are unnecessary. A conversation between two characters conveys where they n to be at the moment, whether in the near the seashore, or at the king's palace. By a long familiarity with the theatrical forms and by sheer imaginative force, the mind audience creates the pictorial realities of the stage

Much of the sophistication of the Balinese theatre derives from this extraordinary integration spectator and action. Action relates to ns, since the stage is usually a clearing before or near the temple where enthusiastic observers crowd around from all sides. The extend itself if a demonic character lunges too close to the small children who form rows, and shrink back to its original the children, half frightened and half return to their places. It is not surprising to find, in the middle of a climactic scene, a dog strolling out between an actor's legs. Such relaxed informalities are very much in tune with the Balinese approach to their theatre, and rarely do they hinder the drama.

The theatre appeals to people of all ages. From the smallest children to grandmothers, who usually care for the babies of the family during the show. For the young, the drama is occasion for flirting and courting in the back a nearby food stands where women shell nut, drinks and sweets everything to make the 'night pass agreeably. Experienced, dancer view the action from a different angle, scrutinizing the movements of the dance and the quality of the dancers. And the quality of the dancers

The ebullience of Balinese dances gives them an air of spontaneity, yet beneath their finish lies a learned set of motions in a highly stylized dance technique. Each salient gesture has a name which describes its action in terms of a similar one taken from nature, usually from animals. A flurry of turns may bear the name of a tiger defending himself against mosquitoes. A side step may be named after the way a raven jumps. A tilt of the head may be as a duck seeing a bird in the sky. The shimmering of the fingers as two blue birds moving on a slender coconut leaf. Or an upward glance as a monkey looking for fruit in a small tree. The names are essentially descriptive and have no symbolic meaning except in identifying, in terms of metaphor, the exact character and feeling within a set action.

Like many Asiatic dances, the movements of the wrist and fingers vary tremendously giving the dance of the hands a life of its own, and making it an important criterion of judgment as to the quality of -the dancer. Great variations of level-leaps, runs, lifts and spins so familiar in the Western ballet, are seldom seen in classical Balinese dances, where space is usually partitioned in measured steps with the body bent close to the ground. Rarely do two dancers merge in a single form. Traditionally, body contact was not permitted. In the formal dance style, although the motion of the dancers may be highly synchronized, the dancers themselves remain separate entities and relate to each other through the choreography, usually one in formations of lines and rows.

Those exempt from, this refined style of dancing are the clowns, who are bound to no strict choreography. The Balinese are so accustomed to the stylized postures, dress, and movements of their actors that when a clown appears who obviously has no style at all, he is extremely funny. Witches, animals and demons, also exempt from the ceremonial behavior of noble humans, have license to adopt hilarious styles of their own and constitute a large part of the comedy.

To everyone introduced to the brilliance of the Balinese stage, costume and headdress seem inseparable from the dance itself. In the capacity of the dancer to identify completely, in attitude and in appearance, with his part, the dance comes alive with a force from within the "dance dances". Facial make-up is a stylized facade of the character represented. By putting on a mask, the dancer totally adopts the character's appearance. His immobile face seems to have transformed his entire body into a new shape that is one with the abstract world of the mask. The impersonality of Balinese dances-the unfocused stare and closed lips of the dancer-is at first striking to one accustomed to dances in which emotional expression is given free play. In Bali , the personal temperament of the dancer serves only to express the content of the dance, the mood of the melody, and the rhythm of the gamelan: to reveal the life of the dance to the audience. For instance, the Kebyar dancer, who must be extremely expressive to be good, never discloses his own personality but animates the fluctuating moods of the music, and generates sound in the physical form of the dance

Dancing is taught by imitation. A young pupil, usually under ten years old, follows every movement of the teacher who leads him through the dance. After he feels assured of the basic motions, the teacher conics behind him and forces his arms and fingers into the correct postures, tilts his head on the proper accents of the drum and adjusts the position of his body This body-to-body lesson is repeated as often as it takes the pupil to begin to "feel" the dance, for the dance to "enter" him. A pupil always learns a particular dance, such as Legong, Baris, or Janger, but never dances in general. He follows the beat of the drum which dictates the rhythm of the dance. The drummer is the conductor of the gamelan orchestra and leads the changing tempo which guides the movements of the dancer.

Balinese dances and drama cover a wide array of theatrical forms. Most performances are a combination of dance, music, song, and acting. No play is complete without music of some kind, and no dance, even the most abstract, is without story or meaning. Selected here are only a few of over fifty dances active in Bali today. The majority cited are performed regularly for guests, others only during religious ceremonies and all of them zealously supported by the Balinese.

The dances selected for discussion on pages 126-140 are those highlighting the virtuosity and skill of the dancers. They are regularly presented by touring dance troupes. To execute them well involves years of training strict co-ordination and technique, and an intricate relation between movement and orchestra. An exceptional dancer, by adding personal modifications of style to the traditional choreography, elevates the dance to new heights and continues his devotion as a teacher. In the second group of dances, entitled "Kings and Comics", the emphasis is upon dramatizing a story. "The Vibrant Ritual" describes the ceremonial dance dramas that actively relate to religious rites.

One of the oldest of Balinese dances is the Gambuh, which may be one thousand years old. Many of Bali 's most popular dances were derived or influenced by it among them the Topeng, Wayang Wong, Cupak, Calon Arang, Legong, Arja, and Joged Pingitan. Most of these dances were created between 1850 and 1900, a period of exceptional vitality for dance, under the patronage or rajas and nobles. The Sanghyang trance dance influenced such dances as the Kecak. Several other dances, such as Kebyar, date from the 20th century, created by such great dancers as Mario and Nyoman Kaler.

Dance and drama have given great delight to thousands of tourists, yet have not remained unaffected. Endless commissions to perform have sometimes caused a decline in stand8rds. And the tendency to serve a mixed bag of excerpts, rather than the classic form of a dance, has meant that tourists often do not see the best of this Balinese art form.

Gamelan. In Bali it is easy to know when something is happening. Just listen for the Sounds of the gamelan orchestra, generally consisting of brass kettles, gongs and met allophones. Often in the evenings the softened tones of the music float outwards from a distant village, as if accompanying the chirp of crickets and the croaking of frogs in the rice fields. Follow your ears and you are sure to come upon a dance performance, a temple ceremony or a religious procession, for music accompanies every theatrical, religious and social function. On a road at night you may pass five or six music sessions within ten kilometers. The magic of the gamelan gives the occasion an aura of vibration with its strange metallic energy.

The word gamelan is, strictly speaking, Javanese, though now it has become a general term for the music played by any percussion orchestra, whether Javanese or Balinese. In Bali the word gong is used to describe the many kinds of orchestra. Balinese music has undergone considerable change during its history. Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s the old gong gede was replaced by the faster gong kebyar which is now the commonest form of orchestra.

A basic principle of gamelan music is that instruments with a higher range of notes are struck more frequently than those with lower ranges. At given intervals, gongs of various sizes mark off the basic line of the music, the other instruments adding their complicated, shimmering ornamentation. Most of the musicians play a variety of instruments of the gang met allophone families which consist of bronze bars suspended over bamboo resonators. With one hand the player strikes the keys with a wooden mallet, with the other he dampens the key just struck.

At the heart of the orchestra are the two drums (kendang), one of which, the. Male, is slightly smaller than the other, the female. The drummers control the tempo of the piece of music. Sometimes using their hands, at other times a round-headed stick, their rhythmic techniques are mind-boggling. The small hand cymbals (cengceng) accent the faster warlike music. Helping to keep the orchestra together is the steady beat of the kempli, a single small gong struck with a stick. The rich slow tone of the trompong, a set of kettles like the reyong but played by one man, occurs certain orchestral pieces and in the Kebyar dance.

Other instruments that accompany particular dances or drama performances include bamboo zylophones, flutes (suling) and the two-stringed violin (rebab). The shadow play has its own little ensemble consisting of four genders.

Archaic ensembles, still played in a few old villages in East Bali , include the gong selunding consisting of instruments with ion keys, and the wooden-keyed gambang., and finally there is the Jew's harp (genggong), one of the world's oldest instruments

Gamelan instruments are still made in Bali , the leading craftsmen being those of the village of Tihingan near Klungkung, and Blahbatuh.

Most banjars have their music club, sekaa, a male organization with members ranging from eight-year-old enthusiasts to veterans in their sixties. As with the planting of rice, the up keep of temples, and village government, the orchestra clubs are communal organizations in which everyone has an equal share in the responsibilities. Every practicing musician belongs to a music club of some kind. Frequently, these clubs are a prime source of entertainment to villagers who casually gather around the bale gong pavilion where the village orchestra is kept-to listen to the gamelan practice. Some clubs meet only once every five months to brush up on pieces to be used in the coming religious ceremony. Others practice five nights a week, perfecting new and difficult compositions or rehearsing with a dance troupe.

The polyphonic compositions are learned by memory. Musicians seldom use musical notation. The remarkable sense of rhythm in the Balinese people is instilled from childhood. At informal practices, one often sees a baby resting on the lap of his father while he plays. The child remains there, awake or asleep, throughout the session. Experienced musicians say there is no conscious effort to remember learned compositions. They have heard and played them so often their hands work instinctively

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