Bali Online Information |A Dance for Every Day 1

A Dance for Every Day

It is almost impossible to spend even a few days in Bali , especially around Ubud, without witnessing a dance performance. Dances are offerings to gods and ancestors – staged to please the deities at religious ceremonies, to which they are invited by the priests. The most common are temple anniversaries every Balinese year of 210 days. With tens of thousands of temples throughout the island, there is a very good chance of seeing one somewhere.

Dances also accompany rites of passage - from the many ceremonies accompanying the growth of Balinese babies to coming-of-age rituals like tooth-filing, followed by weddings and cremations. There are dances at exorcisms, held to rid the place of disruptive forces. Sensational dances are performed at times of crisis, such as epidemics, famines, and plagues. At these events, dancers, and sometimes even spectators, fall into trances.

Balinese dances and the other performing arts have a religious background. Many are ancient.Old stone statues, watching over proceedings in temples throughout Bali and java, strike dance attitudes and wear dance costumes. The dances are Balinese but have been influenced by outside forces, including India, China, and Europe .

The best place to see dances and listen to the gamelan percussion is in their proper setting - in a temple, packed with people in splendid Balinese attire. Watch the women carrying offerings of fruit and flowers on their heads and placing them on special pavilions, and the white-clad priests intoning mantras, ringing bells, and muttering prayers with the moon and stars as the only lighting.

strike dance attitudes

own stylised movements

favourite among children