LEGONG DANCE
Bali Legong Dance, also known as Bali Legong Keraton Dance, is a traditional Balinese dance that has been introduced to foreign tourists as a dance performance performed by very professional Balinese dancers with very beautiful dance curves that will captivate you with their beautiful curves. This Legong Keraton Dance is usually performed by female dancers who carry fans and are accompanied by gamelan music (traditional Balinese musical instruments), and it is a cultural heritage that has existed since ancient times and was used as a dance performance for ancient kingdoms, and it is now developed by a dance studio and made into a dance performance that we can see today. Being a part of the preservation of the Legong dance, one of Bali’s cultural heritages of dance, was a very memorable experience.
TRADITIONAL BALINESE DANCE AND ALSO CALLED AS LEGONG KERATON DANCE WITH BEAUTIFUL DANCE CURVES
Legong Dance Venue and Showtimes
This Legong Dance, like other dance performances such as the Barong Keris Dance and the Kecak Fire Dance, has its own unique characteristics that have earned it a place in the hearts of tourists. As for where to see this Legong Dance, we know that it can only be found in Ubud village, with some performances held at Ubud Palace on a random schedule with other traditional dances, in Saraswati Temple, and a special place called Legong and Barong Waksirsa Dance, which is held every day at 19.00 – 20.00 pm by professional dancers who bring the storyline. With a very beautiful that will take you away from the storyline brought to you by this professional dancer. It will take about 2 hours to drive from Kuta to the Legong Dance location, but it is not difficult to find because it is located in the center of Ubud at the Ubud Palace, so it would be nice if you took a trip to Ubud and ended with watching this phenomenal Legong Dance. After watching the Legong Dance, you can enjoy the night atmosphere in Ubud by spending time with dinner in Ubud Village, which is very different from most tour programs.
History of the Legong Dance
This Legong Dance has been around since ancient times, but it is thought to have been created and developed at the end of the nineteenth century, and it is more commonly performed in the kingdom to entertain the king or royal guests. This Legong Dance is known as the Legong Keraton on the island of Bali because it was previously only performed in the kingdom. The Legong Dance originated in Bali with I Dewa Agung Made Karna, King of Sukawati from 1775 to 1825 AD. It is said that one day while doing penance at Jogan Agung Temple in Ketewel village (Sukawati area), he dreamed of seeing an angel dancing in heaven wearing a gold headdress. The angel danced gracefully with very beautiful movements, and each curve of the dance demanded perfection. Finally, he awoke from his dream and went straight to the kingdom, ordering the nagging bendesa to make some masks similar to the angels in his dreams, as well as some expert dancers to make dance moves similar to the nymphs’ dances. And finally, the first dance performance was performed under the name Sang Hyang Legong at the Jogan Agung temple, where he performed penance and dreamed of dancing angels, by two dancers. women who haven’t menstruated but are still virgins
The definition of Legong
If you look at the meaning of the word Legong, it is made up of two syllables: “Leg” which means a flexible and flexible dance movement and “gong” which means a Balinese musical instrument called gamelan that accompanies this flexible dance movement. As a result, the word Legong can be interpreted as flexible dance movements accompanied by beautiful gamelan music. Semar Pagulingan is the gamelan accompanying this Legong Dance. Originally, this Legong Dance was performed by two female dancers who had not menstruated and were performed under the light of the full moon, which made the scenery very enchantingly beautiful with the characteristics of dancers who use traditional fans and some additional dancers who do not wear fans. referred to as “inclined” The Legong Dance had lost its popularity as other dances took its place, so a revitalization effort was carried out in 1960 so that this Legong Dance could be preserved and survived to this day, where we can still see it today.
The Growth of the Legong Dance
After King Sukawati, namely I Dewa Agung Made, performed the Sang Hyang Legong dance performance for the first time, Nandir Dance studio from Blahbatuh village led by I Gusti Ngurah Jelantik performed a dance performance that was attended and witnessed by the King. Gianyar, whose name is I Dewa Agung Manggis, enjoys dancing, and seeing the Sang Hyang Legong dance performed by I Gusti Ngurah Jelantik piqued his interest, so he commissioned two artists from Sukawati village to arrange the dance with similar type movement dan dancer from the sang hyang legong dance. This Sang Hyang Legong dance was reintroduced by using two dancers as dancers, and the artist eventually succeeded in rearranging this dance using two dancers, and since this is the Legong Classic dance that we can see today. And now, many dance studios have developed this Legong dance to be more artistic and pleasing to the eye with various dance styles while retaining the Keraton Legong dance’s characteristics.
Legong Dance Techniques
The art of Legong Dance has developed very quickly in terms of dance technique and quality. It is said that in the past, this palace Legong dance only developed in the kingdom and finally developed outside the kingdom in the early 19th century, when the dancers who used to dance the palace Legong dance in the palace returned to their respective villages and taught the art of this dance to the residents and the community, so that this Legong dance is widely developed and it is widely practiced. which is very beautiful to see, such as the palegongan style dances found in Saba, Peliata, Bedugul, Binoh, Kelandis, and other villages. Only the villages of Saba and Peliatan remain strong in maintaining the characteristics of this Legong dance while also giving birth to many types of Palegongan dances with various names and dance styles. As we can see today, there are many different types of Legong dances, and some take the storyline from mythical stories such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, which are packaged so well that the audience feels at ease watching them.
Gamelan Legong Dance Music
The Legong dance was originally accompanied by gamelan music. A gamelan is a traditional Balinese musical instrument that is played by a group of people, producing very good music. The Palegongan Gamelan is used to accompany this Legong dance and consists of gender rambar, gangsa jongkong, gong, kemong, kempluk, klenang and a pair of kerumungan drums, flute, fiddle, jublag, jegog, gerontorang and someone as a narrator who sings a melodious voice called tembang. However, with the passage of time and from an economic standpoint, where this Legong dance is frequently accompanied by gamelan gong kebyar, which in turn makes this dance more frequently accompanied by the gong kebyar dance, this is inextricably linked to the flexibility of the Legong dance, which can be accompanied by a variety of instruments. music without diluting the enchantingly beautiful characteristics of the Legong dance So, if you’re on vacation on the island of Bali and want to try a new dance, you can watch the Legong dance and see the graceful movements of the dancers carrying the fan, an experience that is very impressive in seeing the dance, which is part of Indonesia’s cultural heritage. the island of Bali, which can still be seen in the modern era
Dance Performance by Stroyline Legong
The Legong dance was originally a type of dance, but later developments based the dance movements on one of the gambuh dances. From the perspective of motion vocabulary, it appears that the intricate movements contained in the Legong dance have been perfected and dynamically adjusted, resulting in Legong as it is today. The dance movements in pelegongan are very beautiful, but behind the movements are hidden dramatic movements, and as the era and tourism developed, there are many variants of this Legong dance that was developed for tourism purposes, so that there are many Legong dances that are used for tourism purposes. adopt stories from well-known wayang, as well as stories from ancestral times
Legong Keraton: This dance takes its basic story from the Panji story, which is found in the 12th and 13th centuries and tells the story of King Lasem who was going to propose to Rangeksari, the daughter of the Daha kingdom, but the princess refused because she was bound by Raden Panji from Kahuripan, so King Lasem did a disgraceful thing by kidnapping the princess, and this kidnapping was known by the King of Kediri The king of Lasem was aware of this and proceeded to the battlefield; however, before arriving at the battlefield, King Lasem was intercepted by the Garuda bird, who had come to help free the princess; a fierce battle ensued between King Lasem and the Garuda bird, which was eventually won by the Garuda bird, and the king of Lasem managed to flee to the kingdom. And when the King of Kediri arrived at the kingdom with his troops, a battle broke out because the previous king of Lasem was seriously injured and fought the troops of the King of Kediri, causing the King of Lasem to die, and this battle was won by the King of Kediri, who finally freed the princess and took over the Lasem kingdom.
This dance takes the story from the Mahabharata, which is told about the civil war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas to fight for the throne of Hastinapura, the Kauravas are assisted by an uncle named Sengkuni, with his cunning tactics he succeeded in expelling the Pandavas from the kingdom and wasted in the forest for 12 years and carried out a disguise according to the agreement of the tactics. Sengkuni is a liar. During their exile, the Pandavas were given the gift of power and powerful weapons to face the Kauravas, and the Pandavas were assisted by Lord Vishnu’s avatar, Sri Krishna, who helped the Pandavas and gave advice and tactics to defeat the Kauravas, and the war took place on a battlefield called Kuruksetra and civil war. This is known as Bharatayuda. This war lasted a long time and was full of bloodshed, causing Drona, Karna, and Sengkuni to die, and it ended with the death of the Kauravas, where the Pandavas won the battle and took the rightful throne from Hastinapura. The presented dance performance is very epic, so you will be carried away by the storyline.
How to Observe Legong Dance
Legong Dances will always hold a special place in the hearts of dance fans, and if you want to see this Legong Dance, you can go to the Ubud Palace in the afternoon and watch this amazing and beautiful Legong Dance performance. You can buy tickets for the show at the Saraswati Temple ticket counter and special place called Legong and Barong Waksirsa Dance and at Ubud Palace if on schedule for the Legong Dance, because in Ubud palace held many kind of traditional dance and each day different dance performance, with limited seat, it is recommend you come earlier so you can have good seat for watching the beautiful Legong Dance. If you want to watch this dance, Bali Tour offers a Hire Private Car and Driver program, which provides private transportation in a very comfortable car with cold A/C, making the trip very enjoyable and accompanied by an experienced driver. If you happen to be in the Ubud area, you can rent local transportation to get to Ubud Palace, and you can easily purchase show tickets on the spot. Enjoy watching the Legong Dance performance, which is full of meaning and has a great storyline, making the show a lot of fun.
