Kecak Dance
Had my first experience of the famous Balinese Kecak Dance. Even though it was the hotel/tourist variety it still had a lot of impact on me. It's normally performed outside, in a ring around an oil lamp, but due to a storm, we were shuttled inside. It's a bit of a complicated story, but based in kidnapping, love, war and victory. The hand movements and costumes reminded me of Thailand (beautiful/ornate costumes), the story Chinese Opera, but the music was pure Bali. The "music" came from a 50 deep mens chorus, who chanted rhythmically to depict the stories emotions throughout the performance. The chanting is also meant to ward of the evil spirits and is often associated with trance like movements throughout the performance. I was fascinated the rhythmic layers that were created by the men chanting and taking different parts to harmonize and aid in the dance. The most famous of this dance is performed in Uluwatu - check out the full performance here: https://www.
