Bali
Information
THE PERIODS OF INDONESIAN DANCING
As
culture is in fact the product of all human activities be
it physical, spiritual or abstract, we call say that the two
social classes were cultured. Since however the class of the
feudal aristocracy was strong and rich it is not surprising
that its cultural growth was more rapid and more advanced
than that of the common people. Consequently, the growth and
development of Indonesian dancing during tile period of feudal
society had a dual nature. The growth of dancing of tile aristocracy
was favorable and of high quality while that of the common
people was just opposite.
Corresponding
with the existence of two classes in the Indonesian society
of that period, there used to be two groups or kinds of dancing.
The dancing developing in the palaces and mansions of the
kings and the nobility is called "court dancing"
and that developing amidst the common people, "people's
dancing".
Court
dancing which was confined Within tile walls of the 1,alaces
arid mansions of the kings and the nobility, underwent a most
favourable development in that period so that at the beginning
of tile 20th century a high crystallization and most refined
aesthetic values had been achieved.
The
dancing of the common people of that period, on the other
hand, did not have a favourable development so that aesthetic
values were very low by comparison with those of the court
dancing.
This is not surprising as the common people of that period
were poor and did not have the same rights as the feudal aristocracy.
Their lack of freedom of action and their poverty were the
reasons for it lack of freedom in the natural development
of dancing talent, so that therefore the dancing of the common
people of that period was very low in its aesthetic value.
,
At the beginning, most of the dances of the Period of Feudal
Society were religious. But besides these, used to be profane
dancing ill the sense that its beauty was meant mainly to
be enjoyed as entertainment for onlookers.
The
Period of Modern Society started on 17th August 1945, the
day of the Proclamation of Independence. Since that date,
Indonesia has been a sovereign republic; every citizen has
the same rights and duties.
This
change of Indonesian social structure has affected the growth
and development of dancing immensely. Nowadays, dancing belongs
to the whole Indonesian nation. The dancing of the Period
of Feudal Society that had achieved a high crystallization
was taken out of the feudal court, its spirit was changed
so that it has become the property of the people as a whole.
This kind of dancing is now usually referred to as "classical
dancing". New composition in the same vein but unrestricted
by the rules of classical dancing, are called "modern
dancing", and this is now in the process of heading towards
crystallization. But from the point of view of their spirit
and vitality, both classical and modern dancing have a spirit
and essence in harmony with those of the new Indonesian society.
The 11 classical" is really applied only to distinctive
characteristics of dancing that contain traits and elements
of the traditional dancing. Classical dancing is built on
set forms, both arbitrary and traditional.
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