If we talk about Bali, then off course we also have to mention about the harmonization between art, culture and religion in it. It is not only just a discourses, the Balinese society is indeed embody this harmonization in every joint of their lives. Furthermore, they have done it since the ancient time ago and it still continues until this present day. One of the real existences of this harmonization is Balinese traditional dance. Most types of Balinese traditional dance combine the element of art, culture and religion, one of those is Kecak which is already popular in the entire world.
Kecak dance is very unique and different from the others dances. Its uniqueness lies in its musical instrument. It doesn’t need Gamelan which usually used to accompany most of Balinese traditional dance. The musical instrument on Kecak are the dancers itself which usually amounted to dozens of people. These dancers sit in a circle and the chant “cak” in different rhythms while raising their arms.
Actually Kecak is relatively a new dance, because Kecak was created on 1930 from collaboration between I Wayan Limbak and Walter Spies, a German painter. However, it doesn’t mean that Kecak is not a sacred-religious dance. The creation of Kecak was based on the ritual of Sang Hyang dance where the dancer which is in a trance condition became the media between human and gods or the spirits of ancestors. In its development, Kecak is having a variety of modifications. One of those is the addition of Ramayana epic into the dance. This modification last until now, so don’t be surprised if almost in every Kecak performances always show the story from the epic Ramayana. (pj)
