Tari Legong Lasem part 1

[jamesmcashan1]

there is an ancient hunting dance like this, in islands Pacific, that may be the origin of these Tari. this dance may be older than language, millions of years. the diplay of eyes to audience is also seen in Africa, by poor males who wear face paint and "prostitute" to women with money for company and service, similar to presidents of nations (we pay their hair dressers and "make-up" artists) and employees for the primitive monkey soap opera game of business. - james mcashan for the US Senate

[dydiarifien]

well, it's quite hard to find the original version of legong kraton, there are too many of em..

[jenmajol]

the dances are as beautiful as the people... its as if we're family the way you guys dance is like ours... i'm ploynesian btw.... mahalo for da video.

[SukmaMatahari]

@jenmajol Yes, we ARE family! We Indonesians have a lot of foreign influences (Indian, Chinese, Persian, Arabic, Western, etc), but basically your people and our people are of the same stock. Be proud of our common root! Mahalo!

[craig6t]

This is quite amazing. The women definitely have a full grasp of the dance form. I especially like the facial expressions and eye movements. They are expressing here the unpredictable, yet graceful freedom of the Goddess. She is playful, yet always capable of holy anger, just like the HIndu Goddess Kali.

[kumarsa108]

Balinese culture has to be one of the most harmonious on this planet. I love it!

[darkflamedra]

i just came from a workshop in bali tuesday and this is one of my favorite performances

[FlyingPharmacist]

Thank you for uploading this. So stunning, incredibly beautiful, makes me happy and sad at the same time.

Reminds me of my travels to Bali. Desperately longing to go back to this beautiful place.

BTW: could you perhaps upload a Hi-Resolution version of this video?

[pispolina]

Balinese dances are one of the best expressions of performing arts.

[halfrek]

You def need to check out Kathakali then. I think you'd like it.

[pestanah]

thank u for uploading this video...i trully enjoy watching this...cheers

[wayangs]

I somehow don't agree with elibris about the frenetic movement. The dancers might show different style of dancing. It can be peliatan style, I'm not sure. Dont compare it with legong bawa, It's a different story. Moreover, the lasem's accompanied by live music so you can see the interaction between the music n the dance (get the feel & the dinamic). Listen to the kendang (drum) beat and see the dancers movement. They're match. You can't see it in legong bawa that played recorded gamelan

[SiKedek]

Yeah, this is a quality of Peliatan-style legong not seen elsewhere, not even Ubud or Badung.

[slamet13]

every culture always change. But who is can good appearance and performance...

[RanasHeart]

indonesia has an interesting culture

[baby000blues]

This is the proud of Indonesia!!!

[skkaiba]

Its balinese. javanese is much slower. i should know. I'm indonesian. this is BALI. lolz (in bali right now)

[kewlkewl12]

Javanese has a different concept of beauty, and your right many things in Javanese is made to move much much slower.

[Elaneban]

I think the Javanese prefer things to be more refined, slow and calm, it's definitely reflected in the music and dance!

[LuvvyDuck]

I've been fascinated by Bali ever since I was a

teenager (and that was a LONG time ago). I've always wanted to see these Legong dancers. Thanks for uploading this beautiful video!

[KhmerFlower]

Philippines too. Traditional Filipino biliefs are of Hindu influence, and also, Historians speculate that the Philippines was under Sri Vijaya Empire for the 4th and 10th centuries-an empire heavily influenced by India. For example, the Laguna Copperplate Inscription was written in Sanskrit and local languages.The Maranoa of the Philippines also have their own version of the Mahayana-and Indian epic: Maharadia Lawana.

[KhmerFlower]

Actually all of Southeast Asia is influence by India...

[cocoalinsug]

Not the Philippines!

[KhmerFlower]

You might want to look at this too: bahagi (part, portion) in Tagalog, is bhag in Hindi,

diwata (god or goddess) is devata

dukha (poor, destitute) is duhkha

guro (teacher) is guru

katha (story, fiction) is katha

mukha (face) is mukha

yaya (nurse) is aya

[cocoalinsug]

Thanks for the information but what I was trying to empart is that the Philippines compared to other Southeast Asian nations has not been fully infiltrated by the Indian culture. Yes you can see bits and pieces of it's enfluence but not as visible as the one you see somewhere else within the region. The Spanish enfluence of almost 400 years killed and almost elminated what is borrowed and acquired in the Philippines prior to the Spanish colonization, and yes that includes the Indian enfluence.

[senantiasa]

It WAS fully infiltrated by the Indian culture. That was before the Spanish conquerors forced the people to adopt the Spanish culture instead. But it's true that you can only see bits and pieces, but in that case then you should also include Vietnam after their 1000 year rule under the Chinese, because mentioning only the Philippines wouldn't be fair.

[MrHalohalo85]

@cocoalinsug Maybe only in the Visayas and lowland Luzon. But if u go to Mindanao, you'll see the Indian and Southeast Asian influences that used to cover the whole country still very alive there in the music, dance and culture of the Lumad and Muslim peoples.

[MrHalohalo85]

@MrHalohalo85 two well known examples of such historically indian-southeast asian philippine dances are the singkil and pangalay.

[ajiekstoneman]

Wow, this one is so beautiful, amazing great dance!! Wonderful BALI!! thanks for sharing!!

[biancans]

I'm now dancing Legong Kraton

[justlevin]

Yep it's Peliatan style. Maybe the drummer looks like Pak Sukra from Gunung Jati but i also know that he drums for Gunungsari.

I still have a documentary film from 1978 of the older dancers performing in Teges. Talk about amazing dancers... It's hard to find dancers with such calibres these days.

The ones in the clips are good. At least the condong did great for Peliatan style.

Denpasar style esp with STSI is getting a lot like Javanese. Weak agem. Too fluid.

[LiPuma77]

A longer version of the dance, at last ! During my stay in Bali in 2003 I learned to do this dance in 7 days, very hard training. The result not as nice as these dancers hahaha but still good. Now I can practice again at home while watching this vid., Thnx !

[nataliefoxx]

to me legong lasem is the best kind of legong of all. maju anak indonesia~ (viva la Indonesia)

[mchllcr]

Watch this video then watch an authentic spanish flamenco video. Notice the body movements, the hand gestures, the guy in the background chanting the song. Notice the simularites. Is there a common connection somewhere way back in history? Perhaps India? Can someone educated in this field elaborate?

[PeriodinstrumentfaN]

I believe mchllcr has a point. If i'm not mistaken Flamenco is a gypsy dance, and Gypsies have their origins in India. Bali is influenced by India through religion &c. They practice Agama Hindu. I see what you mean mchllcr. :)

[thecritiquevirtuoso]

I see your point, but I personally don't think that there is a connection. probably just a coincidence.

[thecritiquevirtuoso]

hello, I would just like to get back to this speculation because it has also started to fascinate me: the hand gestures in this dance ultimately derive from the Indian concept called mudras. I do believe that spanish flamenco have mudra-like hand gestures (am I correct?) so as far as any connection being possible, this is the only one I can only seem to find that draws from the same sources (India)

[PeriodinstrumentfaN]

thecritiquevirtuoso, you are very much correct. Flamenco dancers are originally gypsy dancers who originated from India... and Bali is predominantly Hindu.... the source is indeed India. :>

[kewlkewl12]

but I think Indonesian culture has perfected the hand dances to a greater degree than the Indian version.

[piedmont252]

If you look at all of the comments on this video...I asked the same question over a year ago as "mchllcr"...I am glad to know that I am not the only one who has noticed this.

[Frisbieinstein]

Yes. And I'm told that this style originally came form Angkor in modern-day Cambodia, spread to Thailand when they invaded and kidnapped the dancers, then to Burma the same way.

[smartrebellion]

INCREDIBLE!! Their movement is like incomparable. I've never seen such things like this before. Balinese dancing is the best.

[SiKedek]

I do see your point about the frenetic quality of these particular dancers - in fact, it seems this is prevalent among the groups who perform in the Peliatan area (is this the Gunung Jati ensemble? - I think I recognize one of the drummers). This particular interpretation (could it be a pan-Peliatan thing) seems a bit too "mechanical" to me.

[elibris]

Yes you're right, this ensemble is indeed from Peliatan. It's the Yamasari ensemble led by Cokorda Alit Hendrawan. It's very interesting to know that the "frenetic" quality of the dance is a Peliatan trait. Thanks for the info.

[halfrek]

@elibris Yes it's true they have a mechanic quality, however it must be taught to them on purpose because of how "natural" all of the performers move in that fashion. It definetely appears deliberate. I think the sharp motion more birdlike honestly. =)

[thecritiquevirtuoso]

bagus ini

[anacereka]

gosh..i miss it very much...

hopely, I could see it again..

BALI I MISS U....LMAO...XD

~anacereka~

[AkilahAmazight]

Yes i see what you mean re: the quality of this dance vs. the others you've uploaded. Still enjoyable, though. The dancers look really young - maybe they are still in training? Thanks, your videos are awesome!

[bangsatayam]

legong Dance, usually performed from Girls.

Little Girls.

These Dancers are not trainee..

They are started to learn dance at age 5-6.

[indulf]

Bagus