🇮🇩 Attending a performance at Batubulan, Bali, Indonesia
Hello Steemians,
In this post I am going to talk about a performance of Barong dance that I attended at Batubulan, in Bali, Indonesia, back in 2009. Batubulan is a village in the south-east of Bali, famous for its artwork and dance performances.
The Barong is a lion-like creature in the Balinese mythology. He is the king of benevolent spirits, and the embodiment of good (1).
His eternal adversary is Rangda, the demon queen, embodiment of all evil in the world.
The face-off between Barong and Randga is the eternal fight of good against evil. Or evil against good, to be politically correct.
It was a hot, summer day from what I remember; good thing it didn't rain at all, because it was an open-air stage and performance. We were of course sitting comfortably in the shade, but the performers were acting it out in the open.
The king's soldiers tried to arrest Rangda, but she cast a spell on them, ordering them to commit suicide.
In a trance, the soldiers took their kris (knives) out, and tried to stab themselves on the chest. Poor soldiers.
And when all hope was lost, Barong came to save the day; he cast a counter spell on the men, which made them immune to sharp objects, so their kris couldn't harm them.
The final scene was of course the face-off between Barong and Rangda; good won against evil, and order was restored in the universe.
It was actually a delightful show; I enjoyed it, and I recommend it to everybody.
I also managed to find a short video on YouTube about the Barong dance, shot at Batubulan, if you would care to watch it:
And that's all for today. I hope you liked my post, and that you will follow me to my next one.
So, have a good day, and we'll speak again soon!
Text references:
1.Text from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barong_
Πραγματικά υπεροχο μέρος..σου έρχομαι να κάνεις κι άλλα τέτοια μαγικά ταξίδια..
evxaristo poli. to vlepo ligo xlomo, alla pote den ksereis :D
no one can deny the beauty of Bali as a famous tourist destination in the world @koskl. In Bali we would find a variety of beauty ranging from exotic beaches, temples, natural scenery, customs and various other beauties. for those who already visited there definitely want to return to enjoy the beauty of Bali.
you are right in everything you said :D
This is their traditional dance I have not seen before.
yes, it is. i will be posting video clips about the dance at some point.