Balinese dance

In Hinduism, dance is an accompaniment to the perpetual dissolving and reforming of the world. The creative and reproductive balance is often personified as Shiva's wife, Durga, sometimes called Uma, Parvati, or Kali. This has significance in Balinese Hinduism, since the common figure of Rangda is similar in many ways to Durga [Bali: Sekala and Niskala :Essays on Religion, Ritual, and Art (Bali--Sekala & Niskala) by Fred B., Jr. Eiseman (1989) p. 24] . In Bali there are various categories of dance (i.e. barong, legong, kecak) [The Folk Art of Bali: The Narrative Tradition (The Asia Collection) by Joseph Fischer and Thomas Cooper (1998)] including epic performances such as the omnipresent Mahabharata [Story Cloths of Bali by Joseph Fischer (2004) p.57] and Ramayana. Bali dancers learn the craft as children from their mothers as young as age 4 (see a nine years old dancer on the right). In Balinese dance the movement is closely associated with the rhythms produced by the gamelan, a musical ensemble specific to Java, Bali [Performance in Java and Bali by B. Arps (1993) p.77] and Malaya. Multiple levels of articulations in the face, eyes, hands, arms, hips, and feet are coordinated to reflect layers of percussive sounds. The number of codified hand positions and gestures, the mudras [ Mudras: Yoga in Your Hands by Gertrud Hirschi (2000)] [Mudras in Buddhist and Hindu Practices: An Iconographic Consideration by Fredrick W. Bunce (2005)] [The Music and Dance of the World's Religions: A Comprehensive, Annotated Bibliography of Materials in the English Language (Music Reference Collection) by E. Gardner Rust (1996) p.72] , is higher in India than in Java or Bali. It has been speculated that they have been forgotten as the dance was transmitted from India to Java [Burmese Dance and Theatre (Images of Asia) by Noel F. Singer (1996)] . Hand positions and gestures are nonetheless as important in Javanese and Balinese dance as in India [A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology: The Secret Art of the Performer by E. Barba (2005) p.156] . Whether in India, Indonesia or Cambodia, hands have a typically ornamental role and emphasize the dance's delicate intricacy.

ee also

* Dance in mythology and religion
* List of basic dance topics
* List of dance style categories
* List of dances
* Dance of Cambodia
* Hindu Goddess
* Javanese dance

References