Fire & Trance Dance

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia Travel Guide

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Kecak Fire & Trance Dance

In Bali, the Kecak Fire & Trance Dance at the cliff-side Uluwatu Temple is probably the most well-known Fire & Trance Dance performance. In Ubud, there is a very well-performed show at the Pura Dalem Taman Kaja, which is on Jalan Sri Wedari (just north of Jalan Raya Ubud) in the Taman Kaja Village. It’s an easy and short walk from Ubud’s city center (Jalan Monkey Forest and Jalan Raya Ubud). This performance is amazing but read on to find out the “dangers” of the dance!

KECAK DANCE
The Kecak is a “monkey chant” based, again, on the Ramayana epic. In addition, however, the Kecak Fire & Trance Dance also borrows certain themes of the sanghyang exorcism. From the Kecak website (www.kecakdance.com), the Kecak Dance was created in the 1930s.

The performance takes place in the courtyard of the Pura Dalem temple where the audience sit on either side of the courtyard. There is a lone statue with candles standing in the middle of the courtyard. A man in a sarong and udeng enters and lights the candles. Then, 100 men of the gamelan orchestra enter and sit around the statue, which burns brightly. The men wear checkered sarongs but no udeng and begin to chant and sing and raise their arms towards the “fire.” This is first part of the performance. The amazing thing is, there is no instrument used throughout the entire performance: only the gamelan orchestra of men provide the music through their singing and chanting while they sit, stand and so forth.

A familiar scene ensues (I had seen the Legong Dance & Ramayana performance the night before) when the beautiful Princess Sita and her companions enter the courtyard. The story of the Ramayana unfolds but this time, the women dance around the fire and step carefully in and out of the inner circle of the gamelan orchestra. See Legong Dance & Ramayana for the story and performance. The Ramayana epic takes up half of the performance.

FIRE & TRANCE DANCE
There is a break and metallic barriers are set up around the courtyard, separating the courtyard from the audience. A pile of coconut shells are placed in the middle of the enclosed courtyard and lit on fire. This is where the Sanghyang exorcism trance dance comes in. The particular sanghyang in this performance is the sanghyang djaran. Djaran means “horse.” A shirtless man holding a horse head (not real) enters and dances around.

In a state of trance, the horse man begins to dance and kick the burning pile of coconuts around. He kicks them so hard that they fly into the metal barriers. When I saw this performance, some of the burning coconuts flew over the barriers and next to me and some kids. This is what I meant by the “dangers” of seeing the Fire & Trance Dance! With the burning pile now all scattered, the man in a trance walks over the burning coconuts. The Fire & Trance Dance ends with the burning coconuts extinguished and the performer sitting on a step in the temple away from the rubble with his feet out to cool them off.

The Kecak Fire & Trance Dance seemed a bit more authentic than the Legong performance. There were no instruments – only men singing and chanting and the Fire & Trance Dance was an awesome experience and performance to watch. If you only have time to see one performance while in Ubud, see this one.

Location: Pura Dalem Taman Kaja is situated on Jalan Sriwedari just 100 meters north of Jalan Raya Ubud
Site: www.kecakdance.com
Email: info@kecakdance.com
Ph: 62 (361) 970508 / 977169 / Hp: 081 239 86812
Times: Wednesdays and Saturdays at 7:30pm

Cost: Rp75,000

Accessibility: The temple, again, has a flight of stairs to enter. It is not wheelchair accessible. Have a friend and the courteous staff help you up the steps.

Getting There: Walk, wheel