Calonarang

Jean Pascal Comte

[b]RE: Calonarong[/b] Thanks Bert for these informations :) . It seems that there are some variations in Calonarong's plot. In the play that I saw, on from what I read, Rangda (alias Calonarong) is furious because king Erlangga finally refuse to marry her daughter because she is the witch's daughter. And that is why she attacks she send her pupils to attack Erlangga kingdom. It all end up with a fight beetween Rangda and the Barong. And, of course, nobody win.

Bert Vierstra

RE: Calonarong A Walter Spies painting from 1924 : http://homepages.shu.ac.uk/~scsgcg/spies/calon.html - What is the spelling anyway, Calonarong or Calonarang ? - A performance: http://music.ucsc.edu/swarasanti/bali/mawang.html In Mawang, near Ubud...

Jean Pascal Comte

[b]RE: Calonarong[/b] Nice picture. I think the proper spelling is Calonarang. I think I just copied a mistake from the theater leaflet :?

Jean Pascal Comte

[b]RE: Calonarong[/b] Sorry, I replied too fast. Thank you for the link too. Next time I need detailed informations about any subject, I know where to adress 8)

Jean Pascal Comte

Last week I saw in Paris a very good Calonarong, performed by the Panti Pusaka Budaya, under the direction of I Made Djimat. Normally, the danse is considered as "wali" and can only be performed in temples or close to cemeteries. I attempt here to quickly translate the "déclaration d'intention" (bad start : I don't know how to translate that :roll: ) of I Made Djimat, because it raises some very intesting points, in the continuation of the thread proposed by Sanurian recently (Is Bali dying ?) "Even here, in Bali, many missunderstandings persist about the Calonarong. The massive arrival of tourists since the fifties led us to start showing to foreigners some limited (or [i]shorten [/i] ?) forms of our expressions, getting rid of their sacred fonction and mixing them together. We thought then that the foreigners would not be able to understand nor appreciate their religious content. Since then , with time passing by, these secular (or [i] profane [/i]) forms that we have created ended up merging with tradition. So that, sometimes, we play in temples shows that we were offering to tourists in the seventies or in the eighties. It then seemed interesting to play (with the idea of preserving it) a Calonarang like the one that was showed hundred years ago in Bali and that we still happen to play, from time to time, when a temple ask us to do so." I realize I am a very bad translator. I hope that I did not difformed too much the thoughts of I Made Djimat and that he will forgive me if I did :) I hope also that everybody will be able to understand. The performance was great and it was a big success. Does anyone know this troup and where they are in Bali ?

Bert Vierstra

RE: Calonarong I would not know if it is performed in Bali... but it may be in Krambitan They seem to have made a CD: JVC World Sounds - VICG 5226 Krambitan Villaga Bamboo Ensemble: Bali - Tektekan - The Dance Drama "Calonarang" Of Krambitan Village. Indonesia / Bali, Folk Ensemble / Percussion / Bamboo Gamelan Anyway: There is another story, which we will be seeing , that belongs to this Barung tradition. It is called the Calonarong and is the story of the fight between Rongda, the widow, and a ruler of East Java. It takes place in the eleventh century during the reign of Elerlangga, King of Java. His mom was Mahemdradatta, a javanese priestess, whose husband was Dharmo Dayana, a balinese ruler. Well dear old M. was a member of the Javanese wicca school and had many interesting practices whereupon her husband said, "I will not be married to a witch;" he sent her off to the forest and married somebody else. When he finally dies, M. became a widow; that is, a rangda; however, she was mad at her son, E., because he had not tried to keep his dad from marrying someone else. Meanwhile, old Rangda started her own MS and had trained her students to use all kinds of interesting talents to wreck havoc on old E's kingdom. She was really ticked off by the fact that her beautiful daughter couldn't find a husband since nobody wanted a witch for a mother-in-law; her daughter whose name Ratna Meggali, being of the upper classes, could only marry a man of similar station. Well, this only increased Rangda's fury and the vehemence with which she continued to do naught things to the kingdom. Her son could not destroy her because she was too powerful a musician. So what do you do when you can't overcome magic? You send for a holy man. The holy man whose name is Empu Pradah, said "it's all so simple; let's get her a good husband." And sent his own son, Bahula, to marry the lovely Ratna. The marriage was a great success, but Bahula had been given another agenda, that is, to learn his mother-in-law's secrets by stealing her magic book. He brought it back to dad, old Empu Pradah, who read it with great interest, followed its principles to a tee and was able to bring Rangda's victims back to life and even confront the old witch herself. He was able to kill her by turning her own black magic against her, Then, going back to the book, he figured out how to revive her in human form and kill her a second time. from : http://www.jeanhouston.org/lectures/balilecture.html

Roy

[b]RE: Calonarong[/b] Trying to rattle my memory I can recall witnessing four calonarang performances in Bali over the past six years. All were in temples and were part of one or another major ceremony. Each of the ceremonies were different from one another in some ways. The best one I ever attended was at the Pura Dalem, or temple of the dead here in our village of Bunutan some three years ago. Late last year I took some friends from Australia to one in our sister village, Kedewatan, and it was the highlight of all their previous visits to Bali. A “full-on” calonarang usually starts about 10 or 11 PM and goes on until dawn. So, by virtue of how long these last, it is not feasible to put on a complete calonarang for the entertainment of tourists. However, very abbreviated calonarang performances can be found on an almost nightly basis in and around Ubud. Perhaps the most honest explanation I ever heard from a Balinese as to why the calonarang goes on until dawn was, “we’re too afraid to walk home in the dark.” After witnessing my first calonarang, I could fully well understand that honest answer. Visitors to Bali can ask around and generally find a full on temple calonarang taking place somewhere in Bali during their visit. Visitors are always welcomed, but it is best to go with a Balinese who can explain all the aspects of the ceremony. Of course full temple adat is required for both men and women…a simple sarong with sash is not enough. In many ways, calonarang is a ceremony itself, and not a dance performance. Several priests are needed to anoint the dancers who fall into trance, especially the kris dancers. As the ultimate showdown of the forces of good and evil, it is essential that such a ceremony as the calonarang is conducted perfectly, to avoid any resulting imbalances.

Jean Pascal Comte

[b]RE: Calonarong[/b] Thank you Roy for your ever very enlightning posts. I have to admit the Calonarang we saw in Paris was obviously not the full version because it only lasted three hours and there was no kriss dance and trance at the end (probably because there was no priests available or because the place was not holy :?: ). There was just the fight between the Barong and Rangda and it was made clear that none of them would ever win. Anyway it was very nice and it had some kind of similarities with an Arja: a lot of dialogues and singin. And clowns were coming in between acts to comment the events. I look forward to see another Calonarang when I come to Bali, but perhaps not a complete one :roll: One of the reason why I wrote this first post about Calonarang was because I found that the remark of I Made Djimat about the fact that they today play in the temples dances and plays that were created for the tourists in the seventies was quite interesting. Do you confirm that ?

Roy

Calonarang is the spelling I am most used to, but I’ve learned to never obsess over how to properly spell Balinese or Javanese words, as often there are acceptable variants. Yes Jean Pascal, I am certain that the kris dance and trance portion of the Calonarang was left out of your Paris performance due to several factors, including the venue, the likely lack of priests, and the kris. This is a very violent segment of the Calonarang, as the men who attacked the Rangda are forced by her spell to turn their kris on themselves. It is quite a disturbing scene as these men try with all their might to impale themselves with their own kris, with only the protection of the Barong preventing them from inflicting serious injury, or worse, upon themselves. The kris used in these dances are sacred and very old kris. When not in use, they are kept locked up in special holy rooms within the temple grounds, as their power is too great to leave the temple unless accompanied by a priest, and then usually for only a very good reason, like a good cleaning and anointment of oil by the Bali kris master Pande Retug. Such kris would never be let out of Bali, even for a major exhibition. Western influence on Balinese dance began in 1936 with the founding of the Pita Maha, or Great Spirit Guiding Inspiration Society by Western artists Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet, along with the famous Balinese artist/architect Lempad and the Raja of Ubud, Cokorde Gde Agung Sukawati. Most people familiar with this famous organization think of painting, as the influence of this organization is most familiar and readily seen in that medium in the museums in Bali. However, this group had an equal effect on sculpture and the performing arts, specifically, Balinese dance. Most all of what is seen in “tourist” performances in Bali are either variations and a potpourri of long standing Balinese dances, many of which can be traced back to the Majapahit era in Java, or recently developed dance routines. Since the time of the Pita Maha organization, which was disbanded at the outbreak of WW II, dance in Bali continues to evolve. The popular oleg tumulilingan, or bumblebee dance was created in 1953 specifically for an international Balinese dance tour. All such dances are considered social, or village dances that have no particular connection, although some are derived from, important religious ceremony dances. Arguably, the two best dance troupes in Bali today are the royal troupes of the palace of Klungkung and Ubud. Even to this day, both troupes experiment and create new dances, just as the contemporary painters and sculptors in Bali continue to evolve new styles, often highly influenced by Western tastes. But these dances are only performed as a performance, for entertainment, and not in connection with a sacred ceremony. As with visual arts, the connoisseur of the “purist” form of the art will look for it in its most original state. In the case of Balinese dance, that will only be found within a temple during a major ceremony.