Classical Balinese Dance – Legong Keraton Lasem /cc English, Indonesian

The Legong dance is one of Bali’s most visually alluring royal court performances. It is a refined dance form characterized by intricate finger movements, complicated footwork, and expressive gestures and facial expressions.
The word “legong” has been interpreted differently and its origins are debated. One explanation is that the word comes from “leg” which means an elastic or flexible dance, and “gong” which means or refers to the gamelan music accompanying the dance.
Legong Keraton or Kraton (Dance of the Palace) is one of the fifteen traditional types of legong dance, and probably originated in the late 19th century as secular entertainment ("Balih-balihan").
Nowadays the Legong Keraton Lasem is performed by three dancers, the “condong” (a female attendant of the court, maid of the queen of Salem – dressed in red) and two identically dressed legong dancers who initially adopt roles of royal importance (princesses). Traditionally the dancers are well trained, prepubescent girls. A complete performance is made up of more than ten parts. Originally, a storyteller sat with the orchestra and chanted the narrative, but this has been refined away in many Legongs. The Legong Keraton Lasem is customarily cut for tourist performances; today it is very rare to see it in full.
The theme of Legong Keraton or Legong Lasem is taken from the story of Panji (Panji Cycle) in the kingdom of Kediri, East Java, dating from the 12th and 13th centuries (there are many variants of the story). In shortened version: the arrogant king of Lasem falls in love with a princess of Daha named Rangkesari. The king really wants the princess as second wife. Then he abducts and imprisons her in his palace in Lasem. Rangkesari refuses the marriage proposed by Prabu Lasem, because she is engaged to Raden Panji. The king/crown prince of Daha, Rangkersari’s older brother/father, declares war on King Lasem. On his way to battle a fierce bird of ill omen (the mythical raven/crow: Garuda) harasses king Lasem. Ignoring this omen, King Lasem goes into battle and was indeed killed. Then Princess Rangkesari returns to Daha with her brother/father.
Proceedings
00:03 The condong (queen’s maid) opens the performance with an abstract dance solo.
03:37 She picks up two fans from the floor.
04:40 Two legong dancers (princesses) enter the stage.
04:57 The condong presents a fan to both dancers.
05:37 The condong withdraws.
Now the legong proper begins. The legong dancers pantomime the story of the king of Lasem within the dance. The narrative is difficult to follow, because the dancers can represent different characters, or even different aspects of the same character without disrupting the flow of the story. They may enter as the double image of one character, their movements marked by tight synchronization. Then they may split, each enacting a separate role, and come together again. They might portray successively King Lasem, his prime minister, his advisor, the queen of Lasem, and Rangkesari the kidnapped princess (cf. Claude Calame). Their style of dancing – strong or refined – along with their facial expressions – indicate which character is being pantomimed.
11:12 Princess Rangkesari leaves the king of Lasem.
11:30 The mythical bird Garuda (enacted by the maid) enters and attacks the king of Lasem.
14:00 “Garuda” loses the battle and disappears.
“King Lasem” will die on the battlefield.
PLAYLIST : Theatre and more:
   • Theatre and more