LEGONG DANCE

Legong Dancer ​is girls from the age of five aspire to be selected to represent the community as Legong dancers. Connoisseurs hold the dance in highest esteem and spend hours discussing the merits of various Legong groups. The most popular of Legongs is the Legong Kraton, Legong of the palace. Formerly, the dance was patronized by local rajas and held in a puri, residence of the royal family of the village. Dancers were recruited from the app test and prettiest children. Today, the trained dancers are still very young, a girl of fourteen approaches the age of retirement as a Legong performer.

The highly stylized Legong Kraton enacts a drama of a most purified and abstract kind. The story is performed by three dancers : the condong, a female attendant of the court and two identically dressed legongs (dancers), who adopt the roles of royal persons. Originally, a storyteller sat with the orchestra and chanted the narrative but even this has been refined away in many Legongs. Only the suggestive themes of the magnificent gamelan gong (the full Balinese orchestra) and the minds of the audience conjure up imaginary changes of scene in the underlying play of Legong Kraton.

Legong Dance History

Legong Dance has existed since ancient times which is thought to have been created and developed at the end of the 19th century which is more often performed in the kingdom to entertain the king or royal guests. On the island of Bali, this Legong Dance is called the Legong Keraton because this dance was only performed in the kingdom in the past. The beginning of the Legong Dance in Bali started with a King of Sukawati with name I Dewa Agung Made Karna who reigned 1775-1825 AD, It is told that one time he was doing penance at Jogan Agung Temple, Ketewel village (Sukawati area) and he dreamed of seeing an angel dancing in heaven wearing a headdress made of gold.

The angel danced gracefully with very beautiful movements and every curve of the dance required a very perfect beauty. And finally he woke up from his dream and immediately headed to the kingdom and ordered the nagging bendesa to make some masks similar to the angels in his dreams and also ordered some expert dancers to make dance moves similar to the dances performed by the nymphs. And the mask work was completed and nine sacred masks were made according to the request of the king Sukawati, and finally the first dance performance was performed under the name Sang Hyang Legong at the Jogan Agung temple where he performed penance and dreamed of dancing angels, the performance was performed by two dancers. women who have not menstruated, who are still pure.

The Art of Legong Dance

The art of Legong Dance has developed very rapidly in terms of dance technique and quality, it is said that in the past this palace Legong dance only developed in the kingdom and finally developed outside the kingdom in the early 19th century where the dancers who used to dance the palace Legong dance in the palace returned to their respective villages and teach the art of this dance to the residents and the community, so that this Legong dance is widely developed and it is also known that the Balinese are very fond of art, so that at that time there were many dance studios that developed this Legong dance with various styles.

Which is very beautiful to see, such as the palegongan style dances that are spread in the villages of Saba, Peliata, Bedugul, Binoh, Kelandis and several other places. Of the many villages that experience this Legong dance, only in the villages of Saba and Peliatan are still strong in maintaining the characteristics of this Legong dance and also giving birth to many types of Palegongan dances with various names and types of dance styles. As we can see today, there are many types of Legong dances that we can see and also some take the storyline from mythical stories such as Ramayana and Mahabharata which are packaged so well that it makes the audience feel at home to watch it.

Where to See Legong Dance

As one of the dance performances that is no less interesting than other dances such as the Barong Keris Dance and the Kecak Fire Dance, this Legong Dance also has its own characteristics that make it a place in the hearts of tourists. As for the location for watching this Legong Dance, what we know is that it is only found in Ubud village, some performance located at Ubud Palace with random schedule with other traditional dance, in Saraswati Temple and special place called Legong and Barong Waksirsa Dance which is held every day at 19.00 - 20.00 pm by professional dancers who bring the storyline With a very beautiful that will make you really get carried away from the storyline brought by this professional dancer.

Legong Dance Entrance Ticket

As one of the dance performances that is no less interesting than other dances such as the Barong Keris Dance and the Kecak Fire Dance, this Legong Dance also has its own characteristics that make it a place in the hearts of tourists. As for the location for watching this Legong Dance, what we know is that it is only found in Ubud village, some performance located at Ubud Palace with random schedule with other traditional dance, in Saraswati Temple and special place called Legong and Barong Waksirsa Dance which is held every day at 19.00 - 20.00 pm by professional dancers who bring the storyline With a very beautiful that will make you really get carried away from the storyline brought by this professional dancer.

Adult : IDR 100,000
Children : IDR 50,000
Dance Show : 07.00 PM - 08.00 PM
Dance Duration : 1 Hour