• Adventuring Down Under
    Welcome to the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.
    Greeted by Garuda @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.A photo op at Mui's insistance @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.Dewa and Mui playing with the bamboo instruments @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.Behind the Barong & Keris Dance venue there is a temple ... off limits to non-Hindus — Bali.At the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.Vishnu carried by Garuda @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.I get to try my hand at being a musician @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.Fresh offerings are a daily occurence everywhere in Bali.Musicians performing the overture @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.Barong — the good spirit — @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.The monkey adds comic relief as it pesters Barong @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, IndonesiaPalm wine makers in the forest @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.The dancers represent the servants of Rangda, the evil spirit ... @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue.Balinese dancer @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.The servants of Patih (Prime Minister) @ the Barong & Keris Dance venue — Bali, Indonesia.Celuk enters the spirit of Dewi Kunti, who promises to sacrifice her son, Sadewa, to Rangda.Prime Minister's servant ... when he comes to sit in the audience during the performance.Sadewa begging Rangda not to take his life — Barong & Keris Dance.Barong & Keris Dance performance — Bali, Indonesia.The fight between Rangda (left) and Barong — Bali, Indonesia.The cast photo op following the Barong & Keris Dance — Bali Indonesia.

    Bali Day 2: Barong & Keris Dance

    January 4, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    We met up with Dewa earlier than planned at 8:15a. He came early … we were ready. Seemed like a good idea to get the show on the road.

    We debarked Regatta amidst a queue of people leaving the ship today … their cruise vacation at an end. With only 130 disembarking (to be replaced by 135 passengers later in the day) — and Celebrity Millennium not yet disembarking its passengers — it was easy enough to get through the terminal.

    As we did yesterday, we started our outing with an ATM stop. Then, Dewa drove us to the performance center in Kuta to see the Barong Keris Dance.

    Arriving at the venue early gave us a chance to take photos and play with the musical instruments. One of the musicians, an older gentleman who plays the flute, stopped to chat with us and even gave us a private concert.

    The gist of the “dance story” — one that is traditionally performed in temples — is the eternal fight between good and evil … with good winning in the end. Of course. In this instance, good is represented by Barong and evil is represented by Rangda. Thankfully, we were provided with a brief description of the five-act dance, so we could follow along.

    The performance was interesting and the costumes were elaborate. How some of the characters endured the heat under the heavy, multi-layered costumes is beyond me. But they did … and were still smiling when at least some of them congregated on the stage for a photo op following the performance.    Read more