Kecak (pronounced "kechak"), alternate spellings: kechak and ketjak), known in Indonesian as tari kecak, is a form of Balinese Hindu dance and music drama that was developed in the 1930s. Since its creation, it has been performed primarily by men, with the first women's kecak group having started in 2006.[1] The dance is based on the story of the Ramayana and is traditionally performed in temples and villages across Bali, Indonesia.[2]
Also known as the Ramayana monkey chant, the dance is performed by a circle of as many as 150 performers wearing checked cloths around their waists, percussively chanting "chak", and moving their hands and arms. The performance depicts a battle of the Ramayana, in which the monkey-like Vanaras, led by Hanuman, help Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.[3]
Kecak was originally a trance ritual accompanied by a male chorus.
In the 1930s, Walter Spies, a German painter and musician, became deeply interested in the ritual while living in Bali. He adapted it as a drama based on the Hindu Ramayana and including dance, intended for performance before Western tourist audiences.
Walter Spies worked with Indonesian dancer Wayan Limbak, who popularized the dance by arranging internationally touring performances by Balinese groups. These tours helped make the kecak internationally known.
This is an example of what James Clifford describes as part of the "modern art-culture system"[4] in which "the West or the central power adopts, transforms, and consumes non-Western or peripheral cultural elements, while making 'art,' which was once embedded in the culture as a whole, into a separate entity".[5] I Wayan Dibia, a performer, choreographer and scholar, suggests, by contrast, that the Balinese were already developing this form when Spies arrived on the island.[6] For example, during the 1920s, Limbak had incorporated baris movements into the cak leader role. "Spies liked this innovation," and he suggested that Limbak "devise a spectacle based on the Ramayana," accompanied by cak chorus rather than gamelan, as would have been usual.[3]
The kecak dance [7] is typically performed by about fifty to one hundred men wearing only loincloths; their upper bodies are left bare. They form concentric circles, in the middle of which is a traditional Balinese coconut oil lamp. First they move their bodies rhythmically to the left and to the right, chanting the words "chak ke-chak ke-chak ke-chak" continuously in coordinated harmony and beat, in slow rhythm. Gradually the rhythm speeds up and by turns they lift their hands, trembling, into the air. The kecak sound can be classified as a "musical" performance with the use of the human voice purely with no musical instruments. The dance is performed for dance-dramas and the story presented is taken from the Ramayana Hindu epic. The bare-chested male kecak chanters play the role of Rama's troops of Vanaras (apes) and Ravana's troops of Rakshasas (Demons).
The duration of the performance is around an hour. The story of the Ramayana is depicted, beginning with Sita and Rama's exile in the jungle of Dandaka. The performance reenacts the appearance of the Golden Deer, the abduction of Sita by Ravana, the battle between Ravana and Jatayu, the search for Sita by Hanuman, and ends with the battle between Rama and Ravana. The kecak chanters chant and sing in accordance with the mood and milieu of the story.
Kecak dance performances in Bali usually take place daily in the evening (6 pm, Bali time) at Balinese Hindu temples such as Uluwatu Temple and Tanah Lot. There are also dance stages used exclusively for kecak performances in Ubud, Garuda Wisnu Kencana, Batu Bulan, Pandawa beach and other places in Bali. Kecak performances also take place on other occasions, such as for cultural and entertainment displays. Dancers usually come from local villagers of the surrounding area of the performance; they usually have a main job other than dancing which they finish before performing the kecak dance. The dancers' income from the dance usually comes from tickets sold to the spectators. The most popular destination for kechak dance performances is Uluwatu Temple.[8]
Dancers
Kecak dancers chant facing the dancer playing as Ravana.
The dancers consist of two types: the kecak male-chanters and the main Ramayana dancers who play the roles of Sita, Rama, Lakshmana, Ravana, Hanuman, Jatayu, etc. Some of the kecak male-chanters who chant chak-chak-chak have their own tasks during the performance. One individual is responsible for maintaining the beat of the chant by chanting "po-po-po-po". Another man serves as the leader of the chorus, instructing them to stop or start the chanting by yelling command vocals such as "Diih!", "Chiaaat!", etc. There is also a man whose job is to sing during the chanting; he sings in a melodious or rhythmic tone according to the situation of the dance with vocalizations such as "Shiiir-yang-ngger-yang-nggur-yang-nggeer". Another man, known as the dalang, narrates the story during the dance, usually in Balinese and Sanskrit. The men chosen for these tasks are usually the senior male dancers. The remaining chanters chant "chak-chak-chak" continuously and simultaneously with harmony.
The dancers who represent the core Ramayana characters are considered an essential part of the dance. Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and the Golden Deer, whose movements are gentle and smooth, are sometimes played by female dancers who are trained in such styles of movement. Men play muscular characters such as Ravan, Hanuman, Sugriv, etc.
Trance
Trance rituals often accompany certain sections of the kecak dance, such as during the portrayal of the burning of Hanuman. Here, the dancer playing Hanuman is blessed by a priest and enters a trance state for the fire kicking dance which follows. The dancer does not feel any pain from the fire because he is in a state of trance.
The Indonesian television station Bali TV uses audio of kecak chanting with the visuals of Rangda and Topeng Tua mask dances in their program's opening theme sequence since 2011.
Kecak is featured in several video games:
Sounds of gamelan and kecak chants were incorporated into the soundtrack of the 1993 video game Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu II, in a track titled "The Oracle".
A sample of kecak chanting mixed with Balinese gamelan can be heard in the SNKNeo Geo arcade video game The King of Fighters '97, when the gameplay shows a Bali arena scene. The arena also includes background animation of kecak chanters on the right side, Barong dance in the center, and gamelan performers with a crowded audience on the left side.
A visual representation of the dance can be seen in the Ritual Passion level of Tetris Effect, beating in time to the player's actions.
In Dota 2, kecak sounds make up sound effect for ultimate ability of Monkey King.
...and in popular music:
1974: A sample of kecak chanting is featured in the song "Money Chant" by Jade Warrior on their album Floating World.
1981: The Tokyo electronic trio Yellow Magic Orchestra incorporated samples of kecak chanting on the song "Neue Tanz" from their album Technodelic. This was achieved through the use of the custom-made Toshiba LMD-649, one of the first digital samplers.
1982: A sample of kecak chanting can be heard in the Nurse With Wound track "I Cannot Feel You as the Dogs Are Laughing and I Am Blind" from the album Homotopy to Marie.
1987: A sample of kecak chanting is in "The Wind Chimes", from Mike Oldfield's album Islands.
1987: The Indonesian song "Kembalikan Baliku", written by Guruh Sukarnoputra and performed by Yopie Latul for the World Popular Song Festival 1987 in Tokyo, Japan, incorporates kecak chanting in the interlude performed by backing vocals. The song received the Kawakami Audience Selection Award (ASA).[9][10]
1991: The San Francisco art rock band Oxbow's songs "Daughter" and "Daughter Bent & Floating" from their album King of the Jews incorporates kecak-inspired polyrhythmic chanting and clapping.
1992: A sample is prominently featured on "Magical Wave" from Kitarō's album Dream.
1995: The German electronic band RMB used kecak chanting in their song "Chakka Chakka" on the album This World Is Yours.
John Adams' opera, A Flowering Tree (2006), features Kumudha and the beggar minstrels in Act II, which are based on the kecak.[11]
Ketjak is a book-length poem by Ron Silliman published in 1978 and reprinted in The Age of Huts (2007), in which the author gives the title "Ketjak" to a vast ongoing cycle of works which includes Tjanting (1980) and The Alphabet (2008).
Kecak from Bali. Produced by David Lewiston, 1990. One compact disc (duration 44:53) with notes and libretto by Fred B. Eiseman and David Lewiston.[12]
I Wayan Dibia, Kecak: the vocal chant of Bali. Denpasar: Hartanto Art Books, 1996. vi + 83pp. ISBN979-95045-4-6.
1 2 Michel Picard (April 1990). "'Cultural Tourism' in Bali: Cultural Performances as Tourist Attraction, Indonesia" (Vol. 49ed.). Southeast Asia Program Publications, Cornell University: 37–74.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
↑ James Clifford, The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art (Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 1988), p. 223. Cited in Yamashita (1999), p.178.
↑ Shinji Yamashita. "Review: Michel Picard, Bali: Cultural Tourism and Touristic Culture", Indonesia, Vol. 67, (Apr., 1999), pp. 177–182. Southeast Asia Program Publications, Cornell University.
↑ David W. Hughes, "Review: Kecak: The Vocal Chant of Bali, by I Wayan Dibia", British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 6, (1997), pp. 195–195. British Forum for Ethnomusicology.
↑ Cincinnati Opera pre-performance interview with John Adams, 30 June 2011
↑ Review: [untitled]. Author(s): David Harnish. Reviewed work(s): Kecak from Bali by David Lewiston.Ethnomusicology, Vol. 35, No. 2, (Spring – Summer, 1991), pp. 302–304. Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of Society for Ethnomusicology
The Ramayana, also known as Valmiki Ramayana, as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text from ancient India, one of the two important epics of Hinduism known as the Itihasas, the other being the Mahabharata. The epic narrates the life of Rama, a prince of Ayodhya in the kingdom of Kosala. The epic follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest urged by his father King Dasharatha, on the request of Rama's stepmother Kaikeyi; his travels across forests in the Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana; the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana, the king of Lanka, that resulted in war; and the bridge which was built by vanars is know as Ramsetu ; and Rama's eventual return to Ayodhya along with Sita to be crowned king amidst jubilation and celebration,and these celebration is know as Diwali.In these all Hanuman is the central character Ramayana because Hanuman gets the order from Ram to get Sita back from lanka; and also known as the biggest devotee of the lord Rama.
Hanuman, also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine vanara, and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the Ramayana, Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotion to Rama and is considered a chiranjivi. He is traditionally believed to be the spiritual offspring of the wind deity Vayu, who is said to have played a significant role in his birth. In Shaiva tradition, he is regarded to be an incarnation of Shiva, while in most of the Vaishnava traditions he is the son and incarnation of Vayu. His tales are recounted not only in the Ramayana but also in the Mahabharata and various Puranas.
Wayan Limbak was an Indonesian dancer, who worked with Walter Spies to popularize the Indonesian dance, known as kecak.
Baris dance is a family of traditional war dances in Bali, Indonesia, accompanied by gamelan, in which dancers depict the feelings of a young warrior prior to battle, glorify the manhood of the triumphant Balinese warrior, and display the sublimity of his commanding presence. Baris derives its name from the word bebarisan, which literally means "line" or "file formation", referring to the soldiers who served the ancient rajas of Bali.
Ramcharitmanas, is an epic poem in the Awadhi language, composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Tulsidas. It has many inspirations, the primary being the Ramayana of Valmiki.
Mandodari was the queen consort of Ravana, the king of Lanka, according to the Hindu epic Ramayana. The Ramayana describes her as beautiful, pious, and righteous. She is extolled as one of the Panchakanya, the recital of whose names is believed to dispel sin.
Gamelan Sekar Jaya is a Balinese gamelan ensemble located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been called "the finest Balinese gamelan ensemble outside of Indonesia" by Indonesia's Tempo Magazine. It performs the music and dance of Bali in many different genres of Balinese gamelan, mainly gamelan gong kebyar, gamelan angklung, gender wayang, and gamelan jegog. Past performances have also featured ensembles playing in other styles as well, including gamelan joged bumbung, gamelan semar pegulingan, kecak, gender batel, gamelan gambuh, genggong, and beleganjur. GSJ has also performed contemporary pieces featuring instruments from the Western tradition.
Wayang wong, also known as wayang orang, is a type of classical Javanese and Balinese dance theatrical performance with themes taken from episodes of the Ramayāna or Mahabharāta. Performances are stylised, reflecting Javanese court culture:
Wayang wong dance drama in the central Javanese Kraton of Yogyakarta represents the epitome of Javanese aesthetic unity. It is total theatre involving dance, drama, music, visual arts, language, and literature. A highly cultured sense of formality permeates every aspect of its presentation.
Balinese dance is an ancient dance tradition that is part of the religious and artistic expression among the Balinese people of Bali island, Indonesia. Balinese dance is dynamic, angular, and intensely expressive. Balinese dancers express the stories of dance-drama through bodily gestures including gestures of fingers, hands, head, and eyes.
Dance in Indonesia reflects the country's diversity of ethnicities and cultures. There are more than 1,300 ethnic groups in Indonesia. Austronesian roots and Melanesian tribal forms are visible, and influences ranging from neighboring Asian and even western styles through colonization. Each ethnic group has its own dances: there are more than 3,000 original dance forms in Indonesia. The old traditions of dance and drama are being preserved in the numerous dance schools which flourish not only in the courts but also in the modern, government-run or supervised art academies.
David Sidney George Lewiston was a London-born collector of the world's traditional music. He is best known for his recordings initially released on LP on the Explorer Series of Nonesuch Records beginning in 1967.
Sanghyang is a traditional sacred Balinese dance originated from the Indonesian island of Bali. It is based on the premise that an unseen force enters the body of an entranced performer. The force, identified as hyang, is an important type of spiritual entity in ancient Indonesian mythology.
Ramayana: The Epic is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language computer-animated mythological action film from Maya Digital Media. Directed by Chetan Desai and produced by Ketan Mehta, it was released by Warner Bros. India on 15 October 2010.
The Ramayana Ballet is a visualization and representation of the epic Ramayana saga, originally written by Valmiki in the Sanskrit language, in a highly stylized dance artform. Ramayana Ballet performance combines music, dance and drama. It is usually performed without dialogue.
Kebyar Duduk is a traditional Balinese dance created by a Balinese man I Ketut Marya and first performed publicly in 1925. Inspired by the development of the quick-paced gamelan gong kebyar, kebyar duduk is named for the seated and half-seated positions taken by the dancers. It does not convey a story, but is interpretative.
Balinese theatre and dramas include Janger dance, pendet dance performances, and masked performances of Topèng. Performances are also part of funeral rituals involving a procession, war dance, and other rituals before the cremation of the patulangan. Balinese use the word sesolahan for both theatre and dance.
Oleg, or also known by its conventional long name Oleg Tamulilingan or Oleg Tambulilingan) is a form of traditional Balinese dance originated from the Indonesian island of Bali which featured unique dance movements that symbolizes the wild life of bumblebees, thus sometimes it is also colloquially known as 'Balinese bumblebee dance'.
Arja, also known as Balinese opera, is a popular form of Balinese theatre which combines elements of opera, dance, and drama. It was created in 1825 for the funeral of a Balinese prince. In the beginning, it had an all-male cast, but since the 20th century, all performers have been women.
In Indonesia, a fire performance is a group of performance arts or skills that involve the manipulation of fire. It includes using fire as a finale in an otherwise non-fire performance. Performances can be done as choreographed routines to music.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
