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| Ramayana's Dance |
Javanese dance is the dances and art forms that were created and influenced by Javanese culture. Javanese dance is usually associated with courtly, refined and sophisticated culture of the Javanese kratons, such as the Bedhaya
and Srimpi dance. However, in a wider sense, Javanese dance also
includes the dances of Javanese commoners and villagers such as Ronggeng, Tayub, Reog, and Kuda Lumping.
Javanese dance is usually associated with Wayang wong, and the palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta due to the nature of dance being a pusaka
or sacred heirloom from ancestors of the palace rulers. These
expressive dances are more than just dances, they are also used for moral education, emotional expression, and spreading of the Javanese culture.
- Tari kraton (palace dances)
- Tari kawulo (commoner dances)
Tari Kraton
The courtly Javanese palace dance is the type of dances that developed, nurtured and fostered by Javanese Kratons, mainly Yogyakarta Sultanate and Surakarta Sunanate, the patrons of Javanese Mataram culture. Javanese sultans are known as the patron and the creator of Javanese court dances.
Kraton dances employs sets of rules about certain dance movements, body and hand gestures that requires discipline to learn. Gamelan orchestra is the prerequisite for Javanese court dance performances as well as for other Javanese art forms such as Wayang
performances. The serene elegance, slow pace and constrains of its
movements gave Javanese dance a meditative traits. Javanese court dances
were heavily influenced by Javanese Hindu-Buddhist legacy. As the result the costumes, jewelry and story, often reflects or based on Hindu epic tales of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
There are three basic types of courtly Javanese kraton dance:[citation needed]
- Beksan putra – These are the dances for men, which serve two purposes: a military close-order drill and highlighting martial skills. Dancers may learn beksan putra dances to familiarize themselves with the movements for narrative dances.
- Beksan putri – Putri is the Javanese word for female, and these dances include courtly dances designed for royal events with very precise movements and distinct staging with subtle layers of meaning. Such dances were often used for entertainment or courtship.
- Beksan wayang – These are narrative dances from epic poems, and usually are named after the characters in them, usually an alus-style hero and a gagah-style villain.
Kawulo Dance
Also known as "Tari Rakyat", is the popular dances of the commoner.
This is the type of Javanese dances that developed in villages or cities
that located relatively quite far from Javanese kratons as the center
of Javanese palace culture. Kawulo dances is lack in Javanese courtly
dance discipline, constraints, and refinements. This type of dance
relatively more open and adaptive to foreign influences.
Several dance is functioned as courtship or social dance, such as Ronggeng, Gandrung and Tayub, while others as celebratory dances such as Reog and Kuda Lumping. The movement of social dances, such as ronggeng and tayub are somewhat more vigorous and erotic, closely related to Sundanese Jaipongan. Because of this erotic nuances, this type of dance often gained shady reputation as the dance of the prostitutes.
Ronggeng Dance
Ronggeng is a type of Javanese dance in which couples exchange poetic verses as they dance to the music of a rebab or violin and a gong. Ronggeng might be originated from Java, but also can be found in Sumatra and the Malay peninsula.
Ronggeng probably has existed in Java since ancient time, the bas reliefs in Karmawibhanga section on 8th century Borobudur
displays the scene of travelling entertainment troupe with musicians
and female dancers. In Java, a traditional ronggeng performance features
a traveling dance troupe that travels from village to village. The
dance troop consists of one or several professional female dancers,
accompanied by a group of musicians playing musical instruments: rebab
and gong. The term "ronggeng" also applied for this female dancers.
During a ronggeng performance, the female professional dancers are
expected to invite some male audiences or clients to dance with them as a
couple with the exchange of some tips money for the female dancer,
given during or after the dance. The couple dances intimately and the
female dancer might perform some movements that might be considered too erotic by standard of modesty in Javanese court etiquette. In the past, the erotic and sexual nuance of the dance gave ronggeng a shady reputation as prostitution disguised in the art of dance.
Wayang wong
Wayang wong also known as Wayang orang (literally human wayang) is a type of classical Javanese dance theatrical performance with themes taken from episodes of Ramayana or Mahabharata. Ramayana wayang wong performance is routinely performed in Prambanan temple, Yogyakarta, while the episode Mahabharata performed routinely in Sriwedari park theatre in Surakarta city and in Bharata Wayang Orang theatre in Jakarta.
While wayang gedog usually considered as cross variant of Wayang wong and Topeng dance, where the dancers wear mask. This theatrical performance that took the themes from the Panji cycles stories from the kingdom of Janggala, in which the players wear masks known as wayang topeng or wayang gedog. The word "gedog" comes from "kedok", which, like "topeng" means "mask". The main theme is the story of Raden Panji and Candra. This is a love story about princess Candra Kirana of Kediri and Raden Panji Asmarabangun, the crown prince of Jenggala. Candra Kirana was the incarnation of Dewi Ratih (goddess of love) and Panji was an incarnation of Kamajaya (god of love). Kirana's story was given the title "Smaradahana" ("The fire of love"). At the end of the complicated story they finally can marry and bring forth a son, named Raja Putra. Panji Asmarabangun ruled Jenggala under the official names "Sri Kameswara", "Prabu Suryowiseso", and "Hino Kertapati". Originally, wayang wong was performed only as an aristocratic entertainment in four palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta. In the course of time, it spread to become a popular and folk form as well.
