Kecak was originally a trance ritual accompanied by male chorus, has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance. Wayan Limbak in collaboration with the German painter and musician Walter Spies who became deeply interested in the ritual while living in Bali in the 1930s, worked to recreate it into a drama. The Kecak tells the Indian story of Ramayana Rama, a warrior and heir to the throne of Ayodya, is exiled with his wife Sita to a faraway desert. There, an evil king spies Sita, falls in love with her, and sends a golden deer to lure Rama away. Sita is captured, and Rama rounds up his armies to defeat those of the evil king and rescue her.
 |
| Ramayana and Sita |
The men are both the choir and the props, providing the music for the story in a series of constant vocal chants that change with the mood of the actors. They don't sit still, either, they wave their arms to simulate fire, and reposition themselves around the stage to represent wind and fire, prison cells, and unseen hand of protection from the gods.
No comments:
Post a Comment