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Kebyar
Duduk Dance
Like the Baris, the
Kebyar is a soloexhibition dance,
but of a more individualistic kind. The
Baris portrays the movements of
a generalized Balinese warrior. In Kebyar,
the accent is upon thedancerhimself,who
inter pretseverynuance of the music in
powerful facial expressions and movement.
Kebyar originated in North Bali
around 1 920, but the man most often credited
with its creation is the late Mario, a
dancer whose superb performances of Kebyar
remain unparalleled.
The most popular foftn
of Kebyar in South Bali is Kebyar
Duduk, the "seated" Kebyar,
where the dancer sits cross-legged throughout
most of the dance. By de-empasizing the
legs and decreasing the space to a small
sphere, the relation between dancer and
gamelan is intensified. The dance
is concentrated in the flexibility of
the wrist and elbow, the magnetic power
of the face, and the spppleness of the
torso.
The
music seems infused in the a dancer's
body. The fingers bend with singular
beauty to catch the light melodies of
the metalphones, while the body sways
back and forth to the resounding beat
of the gong. As the dance progresses,
the dancer crosses the floor on the
outer edges of his feet and approaches
a member of the orchestra, usually the
lead drummer. He woos the musician with
side glances and smiles, but the drummer
is too absorbed in the music to respond.
Insulted, the Kebyar dancer leaves
him and sets out for a new conquest.
The Kebyar is the most strenuous
and subtle of Balinese dances. It is
said that no one can become a great
Kebyar dancer who can not play every
instrument of the orchestra; for to
attain perfection, all the moods of
the music-lyrical, idyllic, dark, ominous-
must be reflected in the disposition
and skill of the dancer. In Kebyar
Trompong, the dancer actually
joins the orchestra by playing a long
instrument of circular knobbed kettles
called the trompong, as he continues
to dance and twirl the trompong
sticks between his fingers. |
