WHEN spending your holidays in Bali, you may want to see or watch the typical cultural attractions of the Island of the Gods. One of the cultural attractions of Bali is a traditional Balinese art performance called Barong and Kris Dance.
Balinese people have a wide variety of Barong dances. One of them is the Barong Ket Dance. Barong Ket is a form of a combination of animal forms between tiger, lion, dragon and cow. This Barong Ket is decorated with various Balinese dance ornaments made from cowhide.
Dozens of small glass mirrors are scattered on the ornaments all over the barong’s body. Thus, when the light hits the mirror, Barong Ket will sparkle. This Barong ket is performed by two dancers. A front dancer will lead and move the mask and another in the rear following it.
The Barong and Kris Dance performance is paired with the figure of Rangda who looks very scary, symbolizing evil. Meanwhile, Barong Ket symbolizes virtue. That’s why every Barong Ket Dance performance is always paired with Rangda. They both symbolize the eternal difference between truth and evil.
One of the stories taken in this performance is the dance drama Calonarang. In this performance, Barong appears to fight Rangda’s magical power to rule the world. Men fight each other with kris. However, when the figure of Barong appears, they turn their kris dagger over and stab themselves when they fall into trance.
At the end, the coming of Barong is to defeat Rangda and to restore the balance of nature. Meanwhile, the dancers who are in a trance regain their consciousness after being sprinkled with holy water.
In short, when on vacation in Bali, do not forget to insert this unique attraction into your itinerary. Thus, you can watch this Barong and Kris Dance performance. Where? You can watch this in Batubulan or Ubud, Gianyar.
