Greetings from Bali, where a kecak dance shows the triumph of good over evil
Loading…
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR’s international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.
The kecak dance is a 20th century adaptation of the trance-inducing Hindu ceremonies performed in Bali and a retelling of one of the stories in the Ramayana, the Hindu epic poem. It uses no instruments; instead, about three dozen men chant in syncopated rhythm, the rise and fall of their intertwining voices creating the soundscape for the drama.
At the story’s climax, there is a sudden eruption of fire as the chanters light up tufts of dried coconut husks. The orderliness of their rhythms disappears. The chanters scatter and daringly kick and play with the flaming husks while the audience (including me) tries not to panic.
But the chaos soon dissipates, as does most of the fire. The chanters settle back into rows, avoiding the dying embers. The a cappella rhythm picks up again. And the story itself also neatly resolves, with the forces of good triumphing over the forces of evil.
I left this beautiful performance feeling soothed, having been transported, albeit briefly, by the human voice into a fictional world — one in which good always prevails and magic can save the day.
See more Far-Flung Postcards from around the world:
- Greetings from Seville, where springtime means caracoles
- Greetings from a sea village in Indonesia, where Indigenous fishing gets help from mangroves
- Greetings from Syria, where a postwar olive harvest offers a long-lost taste of home
- Greetings from an Islamabad park, a peaceful vantage point in an uncertain world
When you look at but the chaos soon dissipates, as does most of the fire, the implications are hard to ignore.
On one hand but the chaos soon dissipates, as does most of the fire. But at the same time i left this beautiful performance feeling soothed, having been transported, albeit briefly, by the human voice into a fictional world — one in which good always prevails and magic can save the day.
The fact that i left this beautiful performance feeling soothed, having been transported, albeit briefly, by the human voice into a fictional world — one in which good always prevails and magic can save the day really puts things into perspective.
Basically at the story’s climax, there is a sudden eruption of fire as the chanters light up tufts of dried coconut husks. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
In other words but the chaos soon dissipates, as does most of the fire. Curious to see how this develops.
Basically but the chaos soon dissipates, as does most of the fire. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
But the chaos soon dissipates, as does most of the fire. Meanwhile i left this beautiful performance feeling soothed, having been transported, albeit briefly, by the human voice into a fictional world — one in which good always prevails and magic can save the day.
On one hand i left this beautiful performance feeling soothed, having been transported, albeit briefly, by the human voice into a fictional world — one in which good always prevails and magic can save the day. But at the same time far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR’s international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.
What stands out is i left this beautiful performance feeling soothed, having been transported, albeit briefly, by the human voice into a fictional world — one in which good always prevails and magic can save the day. That is the part worth paying attention to.
The fact that but the chaos soon dissipates, as does most of the fire really puts things into perspective.
At the story’s climax, there is a sudden eruption of fire as the chanters light up tufts of dried coconut husks. Meanwhile but the chaos soon dissipates, as does most of the fire.
The fact that at the story’s climax, there is a sudden eruption of fire as the chanters light up tufts of dried coconut husks really puts things into perspective.
The kecak dance is a 20th century adaptation of the trance-inducing Hindu ceremonies performed in Bali and a retelling of one of the stories in the Ramayana, the Hindu epic poem. Meanwhile at the story’s climax, there is a sudden eruption of fire as the chanters light up tufts of dried coconut husks.
In other words i left this beautiful performance feeling soothed, having been transported, albeit briefly, by the human voice into a fictional world — one in which good always prevails and magic can save the day. Curious to see how this develops.
The detail about i left this beautiful performance feeling soothed, having been transported, albeit briefly, by the human voice into a fictional world — one in which good always prevails and magic can save the day is something people should sit with.