Javanese dance

Javanese Bedhaya sacred dance performance

Javanese dance (Indonesian: Tarian Jawa; Javanese: ꧋ꦠꦫꦶꦗꦮ, romanized: Beksan Jawa) is the dances and art forms that were created and influenced by Javanese culture in Indonesia. Javanese dance movement is controlled, deliberate, and refined. Javanese art often displays finesse, and, at the same time, a serene composure which is elevated far above everything mundane. Javanese dance is usually associated with courtly, refined, and sophisticated culture of the Javanese kratons, such as the bedhaya and srimpi dance. However, in a wider sense, Javanese dance also includes the dances of Javanese commoners and villagers, such as ronggeng, tayub, reog, and jaran kepang.

Javanese dance and its discipline has different styles and philosophy compared to other Indonesian dance traditions. Unlike vigorous and expressive Balinese dance or cheerful and slightly sensual Sundanese dance, Javanese dance are commonly involving slow movements and graceful poses. Javanese dance have somewhat a meditative quality and tends to be more self-reflective, introspective and more oriented toward self-understanding. Javanese dance is usually associated with Wayang wong, and the palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta due to the nature of dance being a pusaka or sacred heirloom from ancestors of the palace rulers. These expressive dances are more than just dances, they are also used for moral education, emotional expression, and spreading of the Javanese culture.

Types of Javanese dance

A Javanese dancer is dancing accompanied by an ensemble music player in front of the king and his empress in the Kinnaras Court and six dancers are waiting their turn. The eighth-century bas-relief of Borobudur Temple, Central Java, Indonesia

Javanese dance reflects the stratified hierarchy of Javanese society, and roughly can be identified within two mainstream of traditions:

1. Court dances (tari kraton)
2. Commoner dances (tari rakyat)

Court dances (tari kraton)

Rama and Shinta in Ramayana Ballet performance near Prambanan temple complex

Golek Ayun-ayun, a Javanese court dance of Yogyakarta

The courtly Javanese palace dance is the type of dances that developed, nurtured and fostered by Javanese Kratons, mainly Yogyakarta Sultanate and Surakarta Sunanate, the patrons of Javanese Mataram culture. Javanese sultans are known as the patron and the creator of Javanese court dances.

Kraton dances employs sets of rules about certain dance movements, body and hand gestures that requires discipline to learn. Gamelan orchestra is the prerequisite for Javanese court dance performances as well as for other Javanese art forms such as Wayang performances. The serene elegance, slow pace and constrains of its movements gave Javanese dance a meditative traits. Javanese court dances were heavily influenced by Javanese Hindu-Buddhist legacy. As the result the costumes, jewelry and story, often reflects or based on Hindu epic tales of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

There are three basic types of courtly Javanese kraton dance:

1. Beksan putra – These are the dances for men, which serve two purposes: a military close-order drill and highlighting martial skills. Dancers may learn beksan putra dances to familiarize themselves with the movements for narrative dances.
2. Beksan putri – Putri is the Javanese word for female, and these dances include courtly dances designed for royal events with very precise movements and distinct staging with subtle layers of meaning. Such dances were often used for entertainment or courtship.
3. Beksan wayang – These are narrative dances from epic poems, and usually are named after the characters in them, usually an alus-style hero and a gagah-style villain.

Bedhaya

Main article: Bedhaya

Surakarta

• Bedhaya Ketawang
• Bedhaya Pangkur
• Bedhaya Duradasih
• Bedhaya Mangunkarya
• Bedhaya Sinom
• Bedhaya Endhol-endhol
• Bedhaya Gandrungmanis
• Bedhaya Kabor
• Bedhaya Tejanata
• Bedhaya Dempel
• Bedhaya La la
• Bedhaya To lu
• Bedhaya Alok

Yogyakarta

• Bedhaya Semang
• Bedhaya Tirta Hayuningrat
• Bedhaya Bedhah Madiun
• Bedhaya Partha Krama
• Bedhaya Sinom

Mangkunegara

• Bedhaya Anglir Mendung
• Bedhaya Bedhah Madiun

Pakualam

• Bedhaya Angron Akung
• etc.

• Some examples of Bedhaya dance
• 
  The court of the Sultan of Yogyakarta, c. 1876. Performance of Bedhaya Sacred Dance accompanied by Javanese Gamelan Ensemble.
• 
  Bedhaya dance performance at the wedding in Mangkunegaran Palace, Solo, Java, in January 1921.
• 
  The bedhaya dancers doing a sembah (tribute) to the Sultan of Yogyakarta in 1884.
• 
  The Bedoyo dancers at the Susuhunan Palace Solo, Surakarta, between 1910 and 1930.

Srimpi

Main article: Srimpi

Surakarta

• Serimpi Ludira Madu
• Serimpi Sangupati
• Serimpi Gondokusuma
• Srimpi Renggowati

Yogyakarta

• Srimpi Pandelori
• Srimpi Jebeng
• Srimpi Muncar
• Srimpi Pramugari

Mangkunegara

• Serimpi Anglir Mendung

Pakualam

• Srimpi Renyep
• etc.

• Some examples of Srimpi dance
• 
  The elegant dance of Srimpi.
• 
  Srimpi Dhempel.
• 
  "Serimpi" dancers of the Regent of Bandung (circa 1864)
• 
  Srimpi Dancer in Yogyakarta.

Golek

• Golek lambang sari
• Bondan
• Bambangan Cakil
• Topeng
• Banda Baya
• Wiropratomo
• Golek Menak
• etc.

Gambyong

Main article: Gambyong

• Gambyong Retno Kusumo
• Gambyong Pare Anom
• etc.

Beksan

• Beksan Lawung
• Beksan Anglingkusuma
• Beksan Jangerana
• Beksan Panji Ketawang
• Beksan Wireng
• Klana Raja
• Klana Alus

Wayang wong

Main article: Wayang wong

• Wayang wong

• Some examples of Javanese court dances
• 
  Beksan Puri Melati dance
• 
  Beksan Jebeng dance
• 
  Gambyong Langenkusuma dance
• 
  Javanese-style dance at the 8th Malam Anugerah Sastra, Inna Garuda, Yogyakarta

Commoner dances (tari rakyat)

Topeng endel

Kethek ogleng

Lengger

Main article: Lengger

Lengger lanang

Main article: Lengger lanang

Sintren

Angguk

Barongan

Tayub

Ronggeng

Main article: Ronggeng

Kuda lumping

Main article: Kuda lumping

Topeng malang

Reog

Main article: Reog

Remo

It's the popular dances of the commoner. This is the type of Javanese dances that developed in villages or cities that located relatively quite far from Javanese kratons as the center of Javanese palace culture. Kawulo dances is lack in Javanese courtly dance discipline, constraints, and refinements. This type of dance relatively more open and adaptive to local preference as well as foreign influences.

Several dance forms function as courtship or social dance such as ronggeng, gandrung and tayub, while others are celebratory dances such as reog and kuda lumping. The movement of social dances, such as ronggeng and tayub are more vigorous and often erotic, closely related to Sundanese jaipongan. Because of the erotic nuances, those who perform this type of dance are sometimes perceived as intentionally being suggestive or even openly advertising sexual favors.

• Some examples of Javanese commoner dances
• 
  Singo Barong performance at Festival Reog Nasional in Ponorogo, East Java, Indonesia
• 
  Kuda Lumping also called "Jaran Kepang", is a traditional Javanese dance depicting a group of troops riding horses.
• 
  Shinta in Javanese Ramayana Wayang Wong dance performance, Prambanan.
• 
  Remo dance

Gallery

• Some examples of Indonesian Traditional dance
• Beksan Nir Corona, a dance about COVID-19 prevention performed at Kraton Ngayogyakarta
• 
  Ronggeng dance
• 
  Painting of Javanese dance
• 
  Painting of Javanese dance

See also

• Dance of Indonesia
• Balinese dance
• Sundanese dance
• Dance of Cambodia
• Dance of Thailand

External links

• Gambyong Sukoretno dance at Mangkunegaran palace
• Golek Sulung Dayung dance at Yogyakarta palace
• Ramayana Javanese dance at Prambanan temple

Further reading

• Brakel-Papenhuyzen, Clara (1995)Classical Javanese Dance Leiden KITLV Press ISBN 90-6718-053-X
• Soedarsono (1984) Wayang Wong Yogyakarta Gadjah Mada University Press