KEBYAR DUDUK DANCE

Like the Baris, the Kebyar is a soloexhibition dance, but of a more individualistic kind. The Baris portrays the movements of a generalized Balinese warrior. In Kebyar, the accent is upon thedancerhimself,who inter pretseverynuance of the music in powerful facial expressions and movement. Kebyar originated in North Bali around 1 920, but the man most often credited with its creation is the late Mario, a dancer whose superb performances of Kebyar remain unparalleled.

The most popular foftn of Kebyar in South Bali is Kebyar Duduk, the "seated" Kebyar, where the dancer sits cross-legged throughout most of the dance. By de-empasizing the legs and decreasing the space to a small sphere, the relation between dancer and gamelan is intensified. The dance is concentrated in the flexibility of the wrist and elbow, the magnetic power of the face, and the spppleness of the torso.

The music seems infused in the a dancer's body. The fingers bend with singular beauty to catch the light melodies of the metalphones, while the body sways back and forth to the resounding beat of the gong. As the dance progresses, the dancer crosses the floor on the outer edges of his feet and approaches a member of the orchestra, usually the lead drummer. He woos the musician with side glances and smiles, but the drummer is too absorbed in the music to respond. Insulted, the Kebyar dancer leaves him and sets out for a new conquest. The Kebyar is the most strenuous and subtle of Balinese dances. It is said that no one can become a great Kebyar dancer who can not play every instrument of the orchestra; for to attain perfection, all the moods of the music-lyrical, idyllic, dark, ominous- must be reflected in the disposition and skill of the dancer. In Kebyar Trompong, the dancer actually joins the orchestra by playing a long instrument of circular knobbed kettles called the trompong, as he continues to dance and twirl the trompong sticks between his fingers.