Balinese Legong Dance

[EvilStreaks]

That freaky demon thing that appears around 4:50 reminds me of Missy Elliot...

Not being flippant. The whole thing is brilliant. Amazing movements. I don't understand what it all means, so I can't pretend to have a deep appreciation, but it was hypnotic and impressive, and it put me in the state I think it was intending to.

[EvilStreaks]

They look like they feel ridiculous, trying not to laugh. The first dancer to appear, especially.

[jacketkulit]

Indonesia has many traditional and unique dances, this Balinese dance is one of them. :)

[glueturkey]

@jocelynmmlkuntz The Balinese interpretation of what dance is responsible for portraying is much more clearly stated as transmitting the message of "mother nature" than simply their display of "culture"--which to me is a condescending and limited word for what art is responsible for communicating. I make this claim because I am currently studying Balinese dance and using actual masks from Bali.

[Moana4852]

The first dance may be the butterfly dance created by Ibu Agung Arini from Sibang, Bali which was inspired by an ancient myth. The second dance is a male/female bumblebee dance. The third is a Topeng mask dance. Correct me if I am wrong..

[MrJinamor]

I love Bali dance!!! thanks for sharing

[lewisleeming]

Wow, this is so good it just blows my mind! This is so beautiful, mother nature would be totally pleased. The guy at the end is frikken scary though :) .

[BaliBlogDe]

Beautyful!

Bali-Blog.de der Deutsche Bali Blog

[godfreyhowatchin]

SO THIS IS WHERE ALL THE PEDOPHILES HANG OUT ON YOUTUBE

[GrizzlyRecoveryZone1]

@godfreyhowatchin must be american

[RosaArizona]

thanks, long time not saw them.

[RikuRiku]

Beautiful

[gandi]

keep shared with our url link this video.. thank guy and wish you success alwayss....

[pirate19ful]

omg. he's scary. :(

[AndrewMcy]

I like when she play arround her eyes..Elegant and Beauty..strongly but sweet!

[luisana20]

every country has its fascinating folk music. love this one.

[TheSansell]

Love this, is so beautifull, The East is the promise land! For sure!

[0ct0parr0t]

god i love culture

[Heropsychodream]

I'm surprised her armpits are shaved... I thought that was a western thing. I guess it may have spread.

[lemuriavi]

@Heropsychodream french don't shave you know lol

[changtuber]

@Heropsychodream many Asians have little or no armpit hair, even the men. I had a Thai boyfriend, he had zero armpit hair and almost no facal hair, but of course thick gorgeous hair on his head :)

[harris1980]

the demon gun (4:44) looks like flava flav

[birdbath318]

I hate know-it-alls. Pretentious people ruin everything.

[meniek99ss]

This is the most graceful of Balinese dance.

The “Legong” dance is the quintessential Balinese dance in all its glory. A classical dance that springs from age-old temple dances performed to appease the gods, the “Legong” is the epitome of grace and beauty.

I love to watch at the Ancak Saji Ubud Palace Court Yard built in the 16th Century.

[gatheringleaves]

absolutely beautiful

[pimenton73]

Saya suka Bali. Aku tahu bali.

[Tekirai]

o my goodness such lovely dancing and the music is just sheer exotic and the head movement is almost not noticable

[grinbau]

even better in the villages...in the courtyard, as the sun goes down, the dancers prepare and the musicians take their places. Bali is still Hindu unlike the rest of Indonesia, that's what gives it its special flavor to a large extent, the culture was very influenced by India way back.  Hence the Indian dance similarities no doubt.

[kumarsa108]

@grinbau there are hindus in other parts of Indonesia, just Bali is the stronghold and the most culturally spendid in all Indonesia.

[Poypoy91]

Saya ingin menari Tarian Bali please!!! ahahaha XD

i danced javanese traditional dance when i was kid.. like when i was still in elementary school and when i have graduated from elementary school i never dance anymore.. but now im really really missing to dance again.. balinese dance hopefully.. ^_^

*P.S : sometimes i wished i was a balinese too :P

[superyusrie]

The first dance (Kupu Kupu Tarum?) was nice...and I'm saying that not just bcoz the dancers cute hehe.

[poppycop]

@superyusrie Theyre also under 15 you rape artist.

[COLobscurerecords]

Dear Siitho,

Do you mind if I use a snippet of your film with these beautiful dancers in a video clip I am making? The snippet is to illustrate the line: This world looks beautiful which is also the title of the song. I would appreciate it very much and I will refer to the source in the description. Thanks

[4uli4rd]

@Herman : It's one of Indonesian beautiful culture.. ;))

[15h0tmy531f]

i have a new goal in life now. i gotta smoke some weed, drop some acid and see this live. nothing's gonna stop me.

the only dance i've seen where the eye movements are part of the dance. this is just too awesome. my mind is blown.

[linguadigatt0]

@15h0tmy531f also some indian dances have it. I think indian and balinese dance is somehow similar, probably they influenced each other... anyway, balinese music is much better... sounds like these I never heard before....

[TheNickbert]

i believe....

[MANNO7000]

I remember Ubud Gamelan and BINTANG BEER !

[Audovauld]

They move like shaddow puppets.

[P2K725]

@Audovauld So cool.

[mistressrukia]

i did dancing lessons 3 years ago when i went there. even now, i keep the pics of me in the tradtional outfit. not that i can dance as well as them. thats special. sadly, my mom broke her leg in sumatra, so she couldnt see it. but i loved every second of my lesson

[prie71]

ive heard that this music is pure improvisation,its not written or something,i think thats awesome,

[lizrou]

Most dance pieces have a set structure and the core melody is fixed but you are right in that certain instruments (drum, flutes) are improvising their parts...within limits and each performance will be slightly different as there is no notation and the musicians follow the movements of the dancers for tempo changes and accents etc. Different groups will play quite different variations of the same piece too. But yes, I also agree it is awesome!

[brokenmetabot]

I love the music in this video! I adore the gamelan and this is a wonderful example :)

[kumarsa108]

@brokenmetabot Me too Gamelan has this great vibration, im not sure how to express it.

[crimlimdotblogspot]

what's so cool is that the baby squeek toy and baby voices and the motors, they all seem like they were Meant to be in it, like its not some accident. anyhow, great video, well edited, good music and beautiful dancer! xoxoxoxox im really getting into this music.

[kumarsa108]

Balinese have a great and rich culture all the surrounding areas cannot compare to their high art forms. Simply beautiful.

[riakpornorogol]

to kewlkewl Malays or Malaysian also GOT EXOTIC AND AMAZING DANCE than this HINDU dance... we got TARI ZAPIN, TARI SILAT MELAYU, TARI ASYIK, TARI RANDAI, TARI MAKYONG, TARI INANG, TARI SUMAZAU, TARI AYAK-AYAK AND SO MANY MOREEE to i spell to this comment, and all of that DANCES NEVER COPIED FROM INDIA! we created our movements and dance WITHOUT copied other dance such like balinese or javanese dances.. be creatuve INDON because ur natinal anthem also STOLE FROM DUCTH SONG MELODY!!

[megot1388]

go die

[IndonesiaMelihat]

shut up u Maling

[herman45100]

Absolutely gorgeous no matter where the dance is from. I see pure beauty!

[ayutoriyama]

reminds me of Laotian dancing

[AlimuddinNaim93]

kewlkewl12..,,what malay lazy..jawanese always so proud and big talking.

See Indian dance and Bali dance it's same.

Call we a maling plagiat,homo !!!

What comfimn your culture.!!

Who first create Indiaan ectnic or Indo ectnic.

See a dangdut and batik are you know where comes??

it's made in India or from India.

go check and study again.

[kewlkewl12]

batik does not come from india, nor does the accompanying instrument comes from india. this is the big difference between us Indonesian and culture-less malays, we've developed it to the extent to which it is rightfully ours. Anyway, only lazy, uncultured Malays have a problem with this. The rest of the world accept our cultural genious.

[P2K725]

This is beautifulll.

[AlimuddinNaim93]

That same like indian dance=:-)

[LONE1869]

it is CLEARLY an indian dance...hindu influence...but yet the indonesians are proud of it n claiming its theirs..what a shame...

[kewlkewl12]

the gamelans are original austronesian xylophones, the dances are much better than anything you can find in India. Its an improvement, and we're proud, coz unlike the lazy Malays of Malaysia who have absolutely no culture, we are able to develop our foreign cultural influence and create something original out of it. Unlike the lazy Malays of course.

[kumarsa108]

@kewlkewl12 what exactly do you know of Indian dance to say that? The dance form is vast in that country and bloody good in its highest form. If anything Balinese dance rivals it, but not technically better, it is just another form. It can only be better based upon personal preference.

[kyupyd]

of course indonesia can claim this dance as his culture

u know, most of balinese people are HINDUISM..

and it came from India..

i think u should proud too

that our culture beloved by a lot of people..

we should.. =)

[kumarsa108]

Indeed and the Balinese are great Hindus.

[theasianvoice]

well gw ga bisa persis" amat.. wong gw cowok. tapi utk mata, trust me..gw bisa.. mudah banget... hanya saja agak sakit...hehe

[LongHornist]

Thanks for watching my culture...

Please Come again...

^^v

[strAngel19]

they dance with their eyes and head too!I love it! very different than anything ive seen

[whygothic]

Mojave19:you're correct.Legong dance is normally performed by young girls, a novice level for them (definitely not by our standards!) which prepares their physique for the more complicated dances later.The teacher normally makes an appearance towards the end.

[PearlLasky]

Its official, I'm wearing one of those head dresses and costumes at my wedding

[schrodingasdawg]

Oh man, that demon at the end was awesome. Wish I could see more.

[WeAreSoScrewed]

I love it here... Finding an authentic Legong dance that isn't staged for tourists is somewhat difficult nowadays unless you travel to N. Bali.

[mrjjbrown]

Love how they do the eye thing!

[theasianvoice]

i can do that!!! haha

[MowgliX]

Simply beautiful.

[mojave19]

The two dancers in the beginning look about 11 or 12 years old. I love Balinese dance as an art form, but not girls this young in the heavy makeup of women, especially given what happens to children all to often in that part of the world.

[rizqferd]

they look really young that's us south east asians... i believe thery 're bout 17 year old

cause i'm 25 year old and no body believe it cause most of people here think i'm bout 18 or 19 year old ...

[mojave19]

Yes, it's the envy of the West that Asians can hide their age so well! I used to work with Korean kids of all ages and became a part of several of their families. Given that and other experience, I still really think those girls in the opening segment are very young, especially by looking at the width of their shoulders and hips. Not over 13, I'd say.

[rizqferd]

i think you're right but i think they're 13 or 14 but the make up is part of the dress i remember when my older sister was 7 y.o she wore this Balinese outfit for the festival i seen the picture was cute and it's part of culture and i think this is ok without any vulgar moves like belly dance

cause last week i watched Holland's got talent show and there was mother with her 12 y.o girl doing belly dance with erotics moves and that's disgusting to watch and the judges refuse before they done it

[MowgliX]

At least they still have a culture of their own.

[aothman1963]

This dance is similar to Indian dance. Indian dance have this eye thing and the way they move their head also similar. I'm not sure if you could call it the culture of their own.

[aothman1963]

There are similarity between this dance and Indian dance. The eye thing, the way they move their head and may be the custom dress they are wearing are almost similar. I'm not sure if you could call it a culture of their own. It originally comes from India.

[dds12345res]

In the United States it is predicted that 20% of people have been molested...

It might be more prevalent there but... Not by too far!

[dan1oval]

I've been to Ubud twice and loved it. The music, the dances, the food and the wonderful people. The Ubud palace is beautiful. Need to go back before I die.

[Zortlyio]

Is this the "Birds Dance"? Am I right?

[lizrou]

They do look like birds at the beginning. Not sure of the story of this legong. The most popular bird dance is probably 'Cendrawasih', which is the dance of the Birds of Paradise. There are loads of videos of it on here too.

[thephilosopherkartik]

@lizrou Just wandering, do you speak any Indonesian? I'm Indian and it's 'eery' how many similarities there are in Indonesian vocabulary and Sanskrit! The name of the dance you mentioned 'Cendrawasih'; for example, seems to be exactly the same as the Sanskrit term for 'Inhabitants of the moon'.

[1NX9]

@thephilosopherkartik

I think its probably because of the Indian Hindu influence in ancient Indonesian cultures.

[gulakapaspink]

@thephilosopherkartik

@thephilosopherkartik

Once upon a time, Hindu was the religion of the land, widespread even to Tanah Melayu (now peninsular Malaysia), until (probably Arabian) merchants came and introduced Islam and the sultans embraced the religion and it spread

"Tatasusila" (ethics) are among the Sanskrit words still used in Bahasa Melayu today.

There are two links i'd like to refer you to but youtube...

[ie9rws]

he looks creepy

[rizqferd]

cause he's the evil :)

[adlibitur]

thanks for posting. pity i didnt get a chance to see a legong dance when i was last in Bali. only the kecak dance. indo girls are so graceful. not onlya skill, but a way of life it seems. very cool to be indon.

[HYDEmila]

thanks for posting this video

i'm very proud for being indonesian :)

[InfinityeXpress]

I wish i had a gamelan..its trumps the marimba anyday lol. but this really beautiful dancing.

[boulon30]

bagus sekalie aku suka itu

[kadeksuparta]

Actually this is a montage of few different dances: Kupu-Kupu Tarum (butterflies), Oleg Tamulilingan (flower and bug), and the last is Jauk Keras (demon). There's no single Legong dance here

[robertmarcel75]

@kadeksuparta thx for the last one, "jauk keras" i was looking for this one for a long time

[lefas123456789]

shut up cambodian

[edgeman09]

Nice dancing. Bali is a beautiful island.

[docsview]

Ooo nice! you should watch out for a new doc that should come out in 2009 called Bali - Sacred and Secret - I believe there's a website with that name

[yuki613bmw]

beautiful....

[yuki613bmw]

i like d dance n music

[snowflakemuncher]

wow...kudos. that's a heavy costume for the demon at the end. :O

[irdiana]

Its so beautiful... makes me tear up just watching & thinking about it

[kikuk70]

Tari Legong koq gini seh..? ken ken..

[LuckyOddish]

amazing,man there are so many cultures that have such intresting histories,like where did this dance come from

[EmOnLinE12]

its from bali, indonesia...

been there?

[Valaria01]

Intriging dance... I wanna learn! :]

[ie9rws]

I'm crying TT

[KhmerSerey1]

Very exotic and beautiful mate,a visual treat indeed.

[NecroPumpkin]

When I saw a Legong dance a couple years ago when I went to Bali, I remember being able to see the dancer portraying the demon after the performance and he looked like he was about to pass out. He was moving around so much and wore so many layers of cloth in such blistering heat. Dedication.

[ManthaTachibana]

waauww beautiful girls

[gizmobaba]

balinese girls are very beautiful..such a beautiful dance

[KhmerSerey1]

oh so beauuutiful,like looking at butterflies ;)

[senantiasa]

We Indonesians really need to make our culture known to the world, otherwise this dance could also be a commercial for 'Visit Malaysia 2012'

[Tgurl2008]

Sure we did, My friend and I introduced Balinese and Sundanese culture in Gay Pride Parade NYC 2008, we even had an interviewed with NY1, we plan to have a Float next year introducing all cultures that we have in Indonesia, and I am proud of it,..

[irdiana]

really? I would love to see that email me more please ^-^

[bowie1953]

this makes me miss bali have not been in nearly thre years

[fatkutieboi]

Oh my god, my heart pop and smelted at the last sense!!! oh my god, no word can describe the beautifulness!

[KhmerSerey1]

Absolutely breath taking,beautiful.

[zik667]

no prejudice in any form, but why are they so thin?

[gamelanplan]

The Legong dance, which is in the beginning of the video, is traditionally performed by girls, or young women who are bounded underneath their costumes. The girls performing were probably somewhere in their teens.

[rhmntk]

they don't eat McDonalds

[novanh]

they are probably 9-12 years old

[NemyaFebri]

Beside they dance all the time, they don't eat junk foods and dance take all of your energy. I gain 10 kg just after 2 yrs in the US, different diet and life style. :) They're pretty though, and they are not considered really thin in Bali - Its called " Langsing" (nice body) and you suppose to look pretty and nice while performing Balinese dance, elegance, too.

[Tinymoezzy]

Like Ballet dancers it is all a matter of moving elongating the muscles and a good diet. Allot of strict dancers have the same shape. Hard to keep and maintain in a healthy manner but kudos to those who can.

[Tgurl2008]

LOL, they are not thin, you havent seen the thinner one, they still eat McDonalds, but the menu are accompany with rice and fried chicken, and even the burgers look healthy not junkies

[borisvalda1]

I really love it..

[REONYAN12]

レゴンダンス他踊りが好きですバリ島が好き

[octavian88888888]

this is truely beautiful.

[exegcute2002]

That scary dude who showed up in the last minutes really freaked me out...

Was he supposed to be Brahmana?

I live in Jakarta.. hope I can visit Bali again someday.. :D

[GroovyChix]

This is not a Lengong dance but excerpts of 3 difference dances. The first one is called Kupu-kupu Tarum dance (butterfly dance), the second one is Oleg Tambulilingan (danced in couple), the last one is Topeng dance (mask dance).

[DrCrabfingers]

I love it. Check out the origins of these dances by looking at Bharatanatyam and Kathakali dance forms of India.

[kokulaa]

left my heart in bali..

[carreiroantonio]

Lindíssimas garotas... Apaixonantes... Visual explendoros, muito rico. Amaei... Nota 1000.

[jm0277]

Superb!

[ksol1460]

Those girls are a little old for legong -- traditionally the dancers must be under 12 -- but their technique is superb. The guy at the end is spectacular. WOW. Where was this filmed?

[NSResponder]

Balinese dance is some of the most highly-developed art in the world. What you're seeing here is part of a continuous tradition that goes back centuries, to the Majapahit empire and beyond.

[sharonphillips]

Oh my god! The ladies were beautiful but the character at the end! He's technique is amazing but his costuming looked like something out of one of my nightmares. Cultural differences are facinating!

[borednow]

well he IS playing a DEMON so

[annadwi]

Yeah he's portraying a demon

[cavalcalonda]

spettacolare ...

cavalcalonda

[BamaBelleGeek]

Incredible video!!!