More than 100 TNUA students staged the Balinese Kecak Dance epic “Ramayana” under the guidance of Kecak master Prof. I Wayan Dibia in Taipei in October to mark the University's 30th anniversary.
Two excellent outdoors performances retelling the story of the brothers Subali and Sugriwa reconstructed the traditional Balinese dance at TNUA on Oct.20 and at the Theater Terrace of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Oct. 27.
Prof. Dibia, as well as two other Kecak maters – Prof. Sal Murgiyanto and Prof. I Gusti Putu Sudarta – gave an intensive training over 80 students from the Department of Dance, plus more than 20 others from the Department of Traditional Music, on various aspects of the work, such as the body movements, music, costumes, props and backdrops.
It was the second time that Prof. Dibia and Prof. Sudarta have been invited to TNUA. During their last visit, they conducted a two-month workshop on the Balinese dance, during which they created a new Kecak work, “Arjuna in Meditation,” based on an episode of the Sanskrit epic, “The Mahabharata.”
Prof. Ping Heng, who is in charge of TNUA's program for reconstructing classic dances, noted that Kecak is a traditional form of art integrating dance, music and theatre.
Originally a ritual dance, Kecak has incorporated Hindu epics to become a popular form of performance art in Bali.
Prof. Ping said the TNUA Department of Dance previously reconstructed mostly Western dance classics, focusing more on dance skills.
But Kecak is rich in Balinese cultural characteristics, with strong musical and theatrical elements requiring dancers to focus not only on the dancing itself, but also on the theatrical tensions.