The legong dance is one of Bali’s best-known dance styles and it’s an interesting dance if you are lucky enough to catch a performance on the island because of the intricate finger and footwork involved.
It’s also highly entertaining due to the gestures and facial expressions used by the professional dancers during a legong dance performance.
Our guide to the Bali legong dance will help you understand what to expect at a performance, where to find a performance and more.
The History Of The Legong Dance
The history of traditional Balinese dances isn’t always clear and this is true of the Legong Dance too.
It’s believed that the Legong Dance Performance would have been a dance designed for a royal palace.
Legong dance performances first appeared in the 19th century and they say that a prince in Sukawati, in the Central Bali Highlands, fell ill and during his fever, he had a dream where a pair of local maidens danced to the music of the gamelan orchestra.
(Gamelan music is unique to Bali and Indonesia and is made using local instruments).
This is a ceremony in which two little girls choose to be possessed by a pair of good spirits in order to pass on their blessings to their local community.
There was a time when the only way to see this dance was to be part of the royal family or, at least, be on their guest list but today, this dance is performed at festivals and for tourists.
Legong Dancers
The dancers for the legong dance were traditionally female dancers and they would go into training around the age of five!
This wasn’t considered to be a hardship as a legong dancer was deemed to be of very high status socially and would usually go on to marry a member of royalty or a wealthy merchant.
However, their careers would come to an end the day that they tied the knot and thus, many would delay marriage until they were ready to stop dancing.
In modern Bali, dancers may learn the legong dance at any age and they may dance it at any age too.
There are even some records that suggest that this dance has been performed by troupes of male dancers in women’s costumes!
The Story Behind The Legong Dance
The legong dance is a dance drama and it brings together a group of traditional stories.
It’s worth noting that this is not a set of tales from Hindu mythology, but unusually for Balinese culture, a series of tales from Indonesian folklore.
The primary tale is that of the King of Lasem, in East Java, from the Malat which is a local compendium of heroic romances.
Lasem is at war with the father of Princess Rangkesari. He is desperately in love with the princess and wants to marry her.
The closer he gets to her, the more she tries to flee. When she becomes lost in a forest, Lasem finds her and throws her in prison.
He is preparing for a last battle against her family when he is visited by an angry raven that attacks him and foretells his death if he continues on his current path.
The are only three dancers used to tell this story and it’s a pair of actresses and a “condong” (attendant).
The condong is used to set the scene for the audience and also to play the part of the avenging raven.
The Different Legong Dances Performed In Bali
There are quite a few variations of the legong dance, however, they are not dramatically different from each other and tend to to tell the same stories but in a variety of ways.
These dances include: the legong bapang sabab, legong jebog, legong kraton, legong kuntir, legong lasem, legong raja cine, legong semarandana, and legong sudasarna.
There were over fifteen types of this dance at one point, but many of them seem to have faded into obscurity now.
Where To See The Legong Dance In Bali
Puri Saren Royal Palace, Ubud
There are traditional dance performances every night at the Puri Saren Royal Palace and they begin at 7.30 p.m.
The tickets are 100,000 IDR each (that’s about \$6 USD or \$10 AUD)and can be bought at the palace or during the day at Saraswati Temple.
There’s no dress code for attending the performance though if you want to ‘dress up’ for the occasion, you can buy a sarong at any stall nearby for just about 70,000-100,000 IDR (that’s about $5-6 USD or $7-$10 AUD) but it’s not mandatory to do so.
Address: Jl. Raya Ubud No.8, Ubud, Kecamatan Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia
Other Traditional Dance Performances In Bali
There are other great dances to see in Bali and you will never forget your first dance performance of any of these when they are carried out by trained dancers:
Kecak Fire Dance
The Kecak Fire Dance is Bali’s most famous dance performance which is quite odd as it’s a relatively recent dance and it was actually devised by a German, Walter Spies.
However it came about, there’s no denying that this retelling of a Hindu epic is a sight to behold given that it does involve actual fire.
The fire dance performance is always exciting wherever you see it, but most visitors to Bali will choose to watch the show at the Uluwatu Temple where the clifftop is used to add additional dramatic effect as is the spectacular sunset over the Indian Ocean.
Just watch out for the monkeys at this temple as they’re famously larcenous and may well steal your phone or your camera if you’re not careful around them.
They are the only monkeys in the world to try and sell the things they steal back to their victims too!
Barong Keris Dance
This is actually two dances. The barong dance is a lion dance but a Balinese lion dance, not a Chinese one.
It involves the retelling of the tale of Hindu Myth in which the legendary barong (a heroic creature) defeats the evil witch queen Rangda in a battle for the soul of Bali.
The kris dance is a performance within the barong keris dance that involves a state of trance for the male dancers as they battle the evil spirits arrayed against them.
This is a very exciting and dangerous performance as the performers use their daggers to enact a mass suicide as part of this dance and some performers have died due to accidents with these knives!
Barong Waksirsa Dance
This is a spin on the traditional dance of the Barong Keris and the Barong Waksirsa Dance tells the story about the Goddess Durga who spends time on the Earth with her follower “sisya” who was called Waksira (which means “pig” in Balinese).
Pendet Dance
This is the dance of greeting. This is usually performed by young girls carrying bowls of flower petals which are cast into the air as they perform.
It is usually performed at the opening of a ceremony or before another dance performance.
Topeng Tua Dance
A solo dance that depicts an old man telling stories from his youth. It involves the use of six or nine sacred masks to reimagine the man at varous stages of his life.
FAQs
What Is The Significance Of The Legong Dance?
As with most dances in Bali, the legong dance is a tale of mythology but unusually the tales are not from Hindu lore but rather of Javanese royalty.
Who Were The Original Performers Of The Legong Dance?
Nobody knows who the original dancers were or who perfected the dance technique for that matter. There are in fact various styles of this dance and this includes the palegongan style dances which are performed in the villages of Bedugul, Saba, Peliata, Kelandis and Binoh.
What Is The Legong Keraton Dance?
It’s not actually “keraton”, it’s “kraton”. The word means “royal palace” and thus the Legong Keraton Dance is the royal palace legong dance.
This is a reminder that this dance was once only performed for royalty within the royal palace grounds.
Final Thoughts On The Legong Dance And Legong Dancers In Bali
A legong dance performance is a real cultural treat in Bali and it’s a dance tht would once only have been available to the royal family but now such dances can be seen by every curious visitor who wants to see them.
If you’re in Ubud, then a trip to the royal palace to witness the legong dance in person is very much worth your time.
