This is the kecak fire dance, which we were lucky to witness at the end of our visit to Uluwatu. The dance drama is based on a battle in the Ramayana that occurs when Sita gets kidnapped and the monkey king helps Rama rescue her.
It’s a fascinating performance, accentuated by the whirling, flying motions of the leads, though I have to admit, at the end of the long day, my mind gravitated towards thoughts like:
Are those dancers trying not to laugh or are they really supposed to look like that?
Why do they use women to portray male characters? (And then in some parts of the world men are used to portray female characters.)
Do the chorus members still have to practice chanting? How do their voices not get hoarse? (Those men sitting on the ground have to chant cak cak cak continuously for AN HOUR. Plus, the cak cak cak kind of sounded like chaka chaka chaka, which made me giggle because chaka in Filipino gay lingo means ugly, so it sometimes seemed like they were saying “ugly ugly ugly.”) (It had been a long day.)
And finally:
What the hell?! –> when a fireball flew towards the audience
Oh, yeah, just in case you were wondering why it’s called a fire dance:
*
“Kecak Fire Dance in Bali” was created by LSS for travel site Small-Town Girls, Midnight Trains. All rights reserved.
Waou, impressive! the last paragraph caught me off guard, awesome shots!
They were literally playing with fire.
Almost scary, you captured the moment so very well!
the costume of the woman is fascinating…
It is! Indonesia has such a rich culture.