Legong Keraton Dancer
| Title | Legong Kraton (Keraton) Dancer |
|---|---|
| Artist | I Ketut Ongar |
| Date | 1980 |
| Size | 64 cm |
| Material | Suar wood |
| Remarks | |
| Signature | I Ketut Ongar, Bali |
| Published | |
| Collection | Private collection |
Legong Kraton, Bali[edit | edit source]
Legong dance has many variations, some of which are: Legong Kraton (Legong Lasem), Legong Kuntir (story of Cucupu Manik in Ramayana), Legong Jobog (story of Subali and Sugriwa), Legong Kuntul, Legong Pelayon, Legong Semarandana, Legong Kupu-Kupu Tarum and more.
Legong was originally developed in the palaces of Bali. The idea is started from a vivid-dream. A prince of Sukawati had severe illness then one night he dreamed. He saw two girls dancing gracefully and beautifully with the sound of the gamelan. The Prince finally pours this dream into a dance which further known as Legong. This dance is accompanied by gamelan music instrument called Gamelan Semar Pagulingan.
Another version claimed that Legong dance is comes from the Sanghyang Dedari dance, a ceremony involving voluntary possession of two little girls by beneficent spirits. Sanghyang Dedari dance is one of the sacred dance or "Wali" to counteract negative supernatural forces.
The theme of Legong Keraton or Legong Lasem is taken from the story of Panji (Panji Cycle) in the kingdom of Kediri, East Java. Told a King (Adipati) named Prabu Lasem fell in love with princess of Daha (Kediri) named Rangkesari. Prabu Lasem really wanted to marry the princess, then kidnapped her and taken straight to his palace in Lasem. Rangkesari refuse the marriage proposed by Prabu Lasem, because she has been engaged to Raden Panji of Kahuripan. Rangkesari keeps refusing Prabu Lasem until he got mad. Then the King declare a war to the kingdom of Daha (Kediri). Prabu Lasem immediately prepare for battle with the King of Daha. Before the war, Prabu Lasem being attacked by Garuda (mythical bird). The Garuda is actually trying to stop Lasem to attack Daha. However Prabu Lasem defeated the Garuda and ignored the signals to cancel the war. The King Lasem finally went to battle against the King of Daha.
Costumes and makeup are an important part in performing arts. It serves as a feature and strengthen the character of dances are staged. Legong dancers using costume with green dominant color and use fan. Condong dancer using costume with red dominant color and without fan. Garuda use the same costume as Condong, but using the property in the form of wing depicting the wings of Garuda.
Legong dance has complex movements which is strongly associated with the accompaniment of the gamelan and affected a lot by Gambuh dance. Legong Kraton danced by two dancers as Legong and one dancer as Condong. Condong usually portrayed the Garuda that appears at the end. But in some performances, Condong and Garuda danced by two different dancers.
In the full version, Legong Keraton has a long duration (about an hour). The dance opens with the Condong dancer with red colored costume. Then two Legong dancers entered in the middle which tells the story of Prabu Lasem and Dewi Rangkesari (was in the palace of Prabu Lasem). Garuda entered at the end with one of the Legong dancer (Prabu Lasem), depicting the battle between Lasem and Garuda.
More info:
Legong Dance
Video: Legong Kraton dance
