Kecak dance on Kuta Beach Bali

Walking along Pantai Kuta (Kuta Beach ) at sunset, I always see a variety of people, ranging from Japanese surfers, newly arrived pale skin tourists admiring their torched arms and legs, Muslim tourists from Java ogling Europeans in tiny bathing suits and school groups trying to ensnare an unsuspecting foreigner into their question and answer routine.

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This afternoon I managed to get corralled into doing the tape recorded question and answers for 2 school girls from Surabaya. The questions consisted of what my name was, how long I had been in Bali and what I thought of Kuta Beach. As soon as this was over they eagerly snuggled up to me for a picture, I am sure they take great delight in comparing all the bule shots with their friends back home.

Kuta beach is extremely wide at low tide and is great for families to wander and enjoy the cooler breezes and fresher air than on the crowded streets. There is a rule on Kuta beach that the vendors cannot sell their wares below the high tide mark, which gives you a great opportunity to escape them at certain times of the day.

Wandering down towards the lifeguard tower I saw a large group of Balinese men with a banner advertising a Kecak dance at the Segara temple as part of a Sunset Kecak Colossal Show. Great I thought, lets take a look.

The event was only 20 meters further down and arriving I saw a pantomime like act with a Barong, a hairy monster-like character in one of the countless Good vs. Evil scenes.

The large troupe of men finally made their way back to the beach-side temple and made an impressive entrance. The Kecak (sounds like Kechak) dance is sometimes referred to as the monkey dance after monkey-like actions of the men in the chorus. A single man keeps time with Oh, Oh, Oh, chant and the other hundred or so use 7 different rhythms of chanting cak, cak, cak ( sounds like chak, chak-chak).

The Kecak was created in 1931 by Balinese dancer I Wayan Limbak from Gianyar. He used the trance induced cak, cak, cak of the Sanghyang trance dances to provide the a cappella musical accompaniment for a scene from the Ramayana.

The male dancers wore a checkered sarong called a kain poleng similar to those worn by members of the banjar. They sported a red hibiscus behind their ear and sat in 3 concentric circles around a smaller group in the center.

The story-line is the kidnap of Sita, the wife of Rama, who symbolizes the ideals of womanhood (virtue, fidelity and love) by the demon king Rawana and this is part of the morality tale of the Ramayana where good (Dharma) overcomes evil (Adharma).

Oil lamps planted in the center of the circle and around the perimeter helped to create to atmosphere and the almost non-stop chak, chak-chak syncopated chanting was impressive. Movements of the male dancer ranged from a chicken-like strut to seated coordinated arm waving. Two female Balinese dancers performed in the center of the circle almost throughout.

There was no admission charge for this event and probably 100 people gathered around the edge to watch.

Many tourists and local Balinese do not get a chance to see a Kecak dance as they do not make it to Ubud or Uluwatu for sunset. This was a neat opportunity and the dancers seemed to be having a good time.

I left before the end but got a good enough feeling for what was going on. The event was promoted by the Village of Kuta and a couple of local restaurants.