In Bangli, Gandrung Dance No Longer Favored
In
the year 1950s, the Gandrung Dance was much loved by rural communities.
Even, it became a favorite art for men. Unfortunately, the dance
usually performed by female dancers had a chance to experience a bleak
period, when the other kinds of art developed. “We have revived this
noble art,” said Mrs. Erik Gianyar, the initiator of mass Gandrung Dance
performed on Mother’s Day, last week.In this case, the wife of Bangli Regent Made Gianyar held public figures of Pengotan customary village, where the dance had existed. His party also involved in person the former dancers. “Due to these figures, the Gandrung Dance can be seen again,” she said.
Ketut Suarno, one of the artists from Pengotan village, Bangli, said the Gandrung Dance at Pengotan village had been endangered. The Gandrung Dance art troupe had 2 dancers and 15 gamelan musicians. All the musical instruments were made of bamboo, so that they were very typical. The dance was very familiar to make itinerant performance from village to village.
Gandrung Dance, explained Mrs. Erik Gianyar, was not much different from Joged Bumbung Dance having been very popular in Bali. However, there were several characteristics distinguishing them where the dancers were required to wear polite attires, not to be sexy and deviated from the courtesy of Balinese culture.
The dance style was not much different, just on the pengibing or invited co-dancer was not allowed to make movement getting contact with the dancer. Most importantly, the porn movement was strictly prohibited in the dance. “Get motivated to preserve the wealth of Balinese culture, we try to display the Gandrung Dance en masse,” she explained.
And what made it a unique dance was the payment of the art troupe was not using money, but using rice or the like. Results of the itinerant performance were then divided equally by the members of the art troupe. “In the 1960s, the horrific eruption of Mount Agung had contribution to the fade of Gandrung Dance,” she said.
At that time, explained Suarno, the distance of Pengotan village located on highlands was close to Mount Agung, so the eruption had great impact on people’s life. At that time, the dust and sand from the eruption of Mount Agung covered most of the people’s agricultural lands so that they could not be worked on optimally. “At that time, the people only thought about the urgent needs or groceries because life was very difficult,” he said.
To preserve the Gandrung Dance, the figures of Pengotan village coalesced into the Candra Seka Gandrung Art Troupe attempted to reconstruct the dance. To refine the Gandrung Dance reconstruction, his party also took maestro of Gandrung Dance Men Coblong, 80, and the gamelan music composer Nang Rai and gamelan musician Nang Salin.
As a result, it was quite encouraging where the Gandrung Dance was then frequently staged in various occasions during customary and religious activities at Pengotan village. As the peak of its moment, the Gandrung Dance was staged en masse on the Mother’s Day in Bangli.www.bali-travelnews.com
