After the Legong evening we were in no great rush to attend another cacophonous performance, but after a night off we regained our adventurous spirit and went to see a evening of Jegog Dance.
The venue for this performance was the lovely plaza between the Lotus Pond and steps at Pura Saraswati, the temple just behind the Lotus Pond Cafe on the Ubud Main Road near the Palace. It is hard to imagine that any locale could have more atmosphere than this place, especially lit up so beautifully at night. Although several misty showers threatened to drive the performance inside somewhere, in the end it held off and the show was able to go on as planned.
Jegog is similar to Legong, only the gamelan instruments are made of bamboo. It is a MUCH PLEASANTER sound, actually more melodic, like an orchestra of busy wind chimes! They featured an amazing bamboo flute player whose cheeks made me think of a bagpiper who must sustain a steady flow of wind, breathing in through the nose while blowing out throughout the mouth. Also several percussionists on drums and cymbals.
The dances themselves were also quite similar to the Legong dances we saw. Although the dancers did not quite seem the same calibre (it may be that we are gaining a little critical perspective), they were in fact more accessible. Three ladies in white did a dance mimicking the movements of birds of paradise, and the woman who performed the "Warrior Dance" which in Legong had been a Masked Dance, did an even better job without the aritifice of a mask. How she kept her face that way throughout the dance I can't conceive.
For a finale, two women came into the audience for partners. Guess who was one?! They were quite impressed when I stood up that I was already dressed appropriately!
No comments:
Post a Comment