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Legong

Legong (from Balinese leg, meaning graceful movement) is a classical Balinese dance genre performed primarily by two or three young female dancers, featuring highly stylized, graceful movements with intricate hand gestures, expressive eye work, and geometric patterns that embody the elegance and refinement of Balinese artistry.^[1]^[2]^[3] The dance is secular in nature, classified as balih-balihan (entertainment dance), and is traditionally accompanied by a gamelan orchestra, such as the pelegongan or semar pegulingan ensemble, which provides a melodic and rhythmic foundation through metallophones, gongs, and flutes.^[4]^[3] Originating in the royal courts of Bali during the late 19th century, Legong emerged around 1889, created by dancers Anak Agung Rai Perit and I Dewa Ketut Belacing for the ruler I Dewa Manggis of Gianyar, drawing from the older andir dance form.^[4] It achieved its definitive structure between 1916 and 1932, incorporating influences from trance dances like sanghyang dedari and narrative traditions such as gambuh, while evolving into a courtly entertainment distinct from sacred rituals.^[4]^[5] Early performances were reserved for nobility, but by the 1930s, Legong gained international exposure through exhibitions like the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition, contributing to its preservation amid modernization.^[3] The dancers, typically pre-adolescent girls trained from a young age, wear elaborate costumes including tight waist belts, long skirts of gold-embroidered fabric in dark green or violet, gilt leather collars, and headpieces adorned with fresh frangipani flowers, often holding fans to accentuate gestures.^[1]^[3] Common repertoires include narrative pieces like Legong Keraton (based on Panji tales of a king, princess, and crow) or abstract forms such as Legong Jobog, lasting 30 to 60 minutes and structured with an opening solo, dramatic interplay, and closing epilogue.^[1]^[4] Regional variations, such as Legong Peliatan from Ubud or Legong Saba, highlight local gamelan styles and subtle choreographic differences.^[3] In Balinese culture, Legong symbolizes beauty, youth, and spiritual harmony, serving as both an offering at temple festivals and a showcase of aesthetic discipline, though its popularity has fluctuated due to tourism commercialization and competition from newer genres like kebyar.^[4]^[3] Conservation efforts, influenced by Western scholars and performers since the early 20th century, have helped sustain its core traditions while adapting it for global audiences.^[3]

History

Origins

The origins of Legong are rooted in Balinese legend, as recounted in the Babad Dalem Sukawati, a historical chronicle of the Sukawati kingdom. According to this account, during the reign of King I Dewa Agung Made Karna (1775–1825), the ruler meditated for 40 days and nights at Pura Yogan Agung in Ketewel and experienced a vivid dream of two celestial nymphs adorned in golden headdresses, gracefully dancing to divine music. Upon awakening, the king attributed his spiritual insight to this vision, which inspired the creation of Legong as a sacred tribute; he subsequently instructed court musicians and dancers to recreate the celestial performance, establishing fixed choreography for the dance form.^[6] Historically, Legong emerged in the late 19th century as an elite courtly entertainment in the Sukawati palace, with its definitive form dated to around 1889, when it was choreographed by Anak Agung Rai Perit and I Dewa Ketut Belacing for King Dewa Manggis of nearby Gianyar. This development drew influences from pre-existing Balinese traditions, including the trance-induced movements of the sanghyang dedari ritual—where young girls enter a hypnotic state to channel benevolent spirits—and the narrative gestures and melodic structures of the gambuh dance-drama, which provided a foundation for Legong's stylized storytelling. These elements were secularized and refined into a non-trance performance, distinguishing Legong as a polished balih-balihan (entertainment) genre while retaining ritualistic grace.^[7]^[1] In its initial contexts, Legong was performed exclusively for Balinese nobility during palace festivals, ceremonies, and royal gatherings, serving as a symbol of refinement and devotion within the feudal courts of Sukawati and surrounding kingdoms; public viewings were not permitted, emphasizing its status as a privileged art form. The name "Legong" derives from the Balinese words leg, denoting loose or graceful movements, and gong, referring to the gamelan orchestra's rhythmic cycles, underscoring the dance's emphasis on fluid, elastic choreography synchronized with musical accompaniment.^[7]

Historical Development

Following its emergence in the late 19th century at the Sukawati court, Legong spread to other Balinese royal centers, including the courts of Gianyar and Klungkung (Puri Semarapura), where it was adapted and refined for local performances.^[7] In Gianyar, the dance was formalized in 1889 by choreographers Anak Agung Rai Perit and I Dewa Ketut Belacing at the request of ruler I Dewa Manggis, incorporating elements from earlier forms like the mid-19th-century andir dance created by I Gusti Ngurah Jelantik.^[7] These refinements included the addition of the condong (attendant) role, first introduced in Sukawati around 1910 and subsequently in Peliatan (1916), Keramas (1927), Saba (1930), and Badung (1932), enhancing the narrative structure and group dynamics.^[7] During the Dutch colonial period in the early 20th century, Legong gained exposure beyond Bali through performances organized under colonial auspices, marking its introduction to Western audiences. In 1931, a Balinese dance troupe, including Legong performers, presented at the Paris Colonial Exhibition, captivating European viewers with its grace and leading to stylistic adaptations for international stages, such as simplified narratives to suit shorter formats.^[8] Further visibility came via tours to Java and the 1935 silent film Legong: Dance of the Virgins, filmed in Ubud and distributed in Europe and the United States, which prompted Balinese artists to incorporate Western influences like faster tempos while preserving core techniques.^[9] These exposures, amid Dutch rule from 1906 onward, spurred innovations in accompaniment, notably in the 1930s when composers like I Wayan Lotring integrated kebyar-style gamelan elements—characterized by dynamic, explosive rhythms—into Legong, as developed by earlier Gong Kebyar pioneers such as I Mario in the 1920s.^[7] After Indonesian independence in 1945, Legong underwent standardization and institutionalization to ensure its transmission amid modernization. The establishment of arts academies, including the Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Denpasar in 1967, formalized training curricula that codified Legong techniques, movements, and repertoires, drawing from regional variants to create unified educational standards.^[10] This led to the development of new variants, such as Legong Pancer Langit, designed for pedagogical purposes to teach philosophical concepts like Tri Hita Karana (harmony with God, humans, and nature) in academic settings.^[11] A pivotal milestone was the 2015 UNESCO inscription of "Three Genres of Traditional Dance in Bali" (ICH-00617) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, recognizing Legong as a semi-sacred form integral to Balinese identity.^[12] This designation spurred preservation efforts, including community workshops, digital archiving at ISI Denpasar, and international performances for cultural diplomacy, such as the 2023 Jeddah Festival presentation of Legong Pancer Langit to promote Indonesian heritage globally.^[13]^[11] By 2025, these initiatives have sustained Legong's vitality, with ongoing programs emphasizing youth involvement to counter tourism commercialization.

Description

Technique and Movements

Legong dance is characterized by its refined and intricate physical techniques, emphasizing fluid grace and precise control to convey narrative depth. Central to its style are the mudras, or codified hand and finger positions, which dancers articulate with high precision to symbolize deities, emotions, nature, and actions in storytelling. These gestures, often involving extended or trembling fingers, allow for the depiction of complex narratives such as conflict and courtship without verbal language.^[14] Similarly, synchronized eye gazes, known as seledet, involve rapid, darting glances that intensify expressions and synchronize with the dancers' unison movements, creating an ethereal, fleeting quality to the performance.^[15] The undulating torso movements, achieved through constant weight shifts and subtle bends, contribute to the dance's bird-like grace, evoking a sense of lightness and asymmetry in poses. Footwork is rapid and complicated, forming geometric patterns on the stage while avoiding heavy stomps to preserve the feminine delicacy inherent to Legong. These elements contrast sharply with the vigorous, angular motions of other Balinese forms like Baris, which prioritize power and warrior stances over Legong's emphasis on suppleness and refinement.^[16]^[1]^[3] Stylized pantomime forms the core of Legong's expressive vocabulary, where gestures and body isolations fleetingly portray narrative actions, emotions, and natural phenomena, such as a bird's flutter or a character's inner turmoil. Dancers maintain central balance through tensed arms and forward-leaning torsos with bent legs, enabling delicate head tilts and rapid shifts that build rhythmic intensity. Pacing that accelerates alongside gamelan cues culminates in climactic, frozen poses, heightening the dramatic tension.^[14]^[1]

Costumes and Accessories

The traditional attire of Legong dancers embodies opulence and symbolism, beginning with the gelung supit urip headdress, a distinctive twin-tower structure crafted from gold-painted leather or gilded materials, adorned with fresh frangipani flowers and secured by gold sanggul hairpins to evoke divine elegance.^[17] The upper body is covered by a kebaya-style prada blouse, featuring intricate gold leaf applications via the prada technique, which involves adhering thin gold foils to cloth for a shimmering effect that signifies purity and festivity.^[17] This is paired with a prada sarong, a wrapped skirt similarly embellished with gold motifs, often in dominant gold tones accented by white or yellow to represent sacredness, though vibrant hues like red and gold appear in performances depicting royalty.^[17]^[1] A sangrai shawl, or tutup dada breast cloth, a narrow strip of prada fabric, drapes over the shoulders and chest, completing the layered ensemble that accentuates graceful movements.^[17] Key accessories enhance the ethereal quality of the performance, including the prasi, a fan made from painted palm leaves, wielded to execute dramatic, fluttering gestures that mimic natural elements like birds or flowers in the narrative.^[1] Gelang bracelets, constructed from gilded leather or prada cloth and worn on the upper arms and wrists, along with ornamental sanggul pins in the headdress, symbolize celestial beings and heavenly grace, aligning with the dance's angelic aesthetic.^[17] Dancers perform barefoot, allowing direct contact with the performance space to underscore the dance's rooted connection to Balinese earth and spirituality. In the condong role, which precedes the main Legong duet as a servant or attendant, the attire features simpler variations—often in white or pastel shades with reduced gold embellishments—to denote subordinate status and contrast the protagonists' lavish opulence, while retaining core elements like the headdress and sarong for stylistic unity.^[1] Over the 20th century, Legong costumes adapted to practical needs, incorporating synthetic fabrics and alternatives such as silk-screened gold paper during wartime shortages in the 1940s, followed by more resilient materials from the 1950s onward to withstand intensive performance schedules, all while maintaining symbolic motifs inspired by Hindu-Balinese iconography like floral and divine patterns.^[17]

Music and Accompaniment

The classical form of Legong is primarily accompanied by the gamelan semar pegulingan, an ensemble characterized by soft, intricate melodies that emphasize a shimmering, ethereal quality through paired tunings in a five-tone pelog scale.^[18] This orchestra features metallophones such as gender (tuned to 13 keys), gangsa, calung, and jegogan for melodic elaboration and interlocking patterns (kotekan); tuned gongs including terimpong, kemplung, kempur, and kelenang for cyclical punctuation; rhythmic support from kendang drums, kajar, and ceng-ceng cymbals; and suling flutes that add delicate, flowing lines.^[18] For faster-paced variants of Legong, such as Kebyar Legong, the gamelan gong kebyar provides accompaniment, highlighting dynamic crescendos, abrupt accents, and virtuosic interplay among lighter bronze instruments modified for speed and brilliance.^[19] The musical structure of Legong accompaniment relies on colotomic cycles, where large gongs and smaller percussion mark nested time units, creating a repetitive yet evolving framework that supports the dance's narrative flow.^[18] Kendang drums lead these cycles by signaling transitions between sections, while ceng-ceng cymbals produce ujan patterns—rapid, rain-like bursts—for atmospheric tension and texture.^[18] The accompaniment remains purely instrumental, with no vocal elements, allowing the core melody (pokok) to unfold through heterophonic elaboration by the ensemble.^[18] Synchronization between music and dance is achieved through tempo variations, shifting from slow andeg (deliberate and flowing) to fast cepat (energetic and impulsive), which mirror the building narrative tension in Legong stories.^[19] Specific colotans—gong strikes at cycle endpoints—delineate scene transitions, enabling dancers to align precise gestures with musical peaks and releases.^[18] In the 1920s, Balinese musicians like I Wayan Lotring innovated Legong accompaniment by integrating kebyar elements into the palégongan (semar pegulingan variant), introducing rhapsodic melodies, subtle rhythmic shifts, and heightened expressiveness to enhance dramatic interplay with the dance.^[20] Figures such as Anak Agung Gede Mandera further supported these developments by preserving and lending classical gamelan sets for teaching Legong-related repertoire, bridging traditional and emerging styles.^[20]

Performance

Dancers and Training

In traditional Legong performances, the primary dancers consist of two pre-pubescent girls, ideally aged 5 to 10, portraying the main legong roles, often accompanied by a third girl as the condong, or attendant, who introduces and supports the narrative through dance.^[5] This trio emphasizes ideals of purity and grace, with the young performers selected for their natural elegance and often retiring after puberty to preserve the dance's symbolic innocence.^[21] Training for Legong typically begins at age 5 within sanggar, community-based dance schools, or family compounds in Bali, where aspiring dancers undergo structured instruction under experienced gurus.^[22] Sessions occur daily for 2 to 4 hours, emphasizing progressive development of flexibility, endurance, and precise memorization of movements and sequences through oral transmission and hands-on guidance from the guru, who physically demonstrates and corrects postures.^[23] The process fosters both physical prowess and mental discipline, with knowledge passed down verbally without written notation to maintain cultural authenticity.^[5] Physical preparation centers on exercises enhancing joint mobility, such as controlled arm twisting to achieve fluid, serpentine extensions and isolated neck movements for expressive head tilts and glances that convey emotion.^[1] Mental and spiritual readiness incorporates Balinese Hindu rituals to seek blessings for skill, health, and harmony during training. Since the 1970s, contemporary practices have expanded to include adult female dancers and, in some variants, male performers, adapting the form for broader accessibility while retaining core techniques.^[1] Career trajectories for Legong dancers traditionally led from palace-based troupes serving royal entertainment to modern professional companies performing at cultural venues like Ubud Palace.^[24] Recent curricula in the 2020s integrate health-focused elements, such as balanced strengthening routines to prevent joint strain from repetitive motions, drawing on studies showing Legong training's superiority in improving muscle strength and balance over standard aerobic exercises.^[25]

Structure of a Performance

A Legong performance often features three female dancers: two principal Legong who portray the main characters and mirror each other's movements with precise synchronization, and one Condong who serves as a narrator-servant facilitating transitions, though some variants use only two dancers.^[26]^[1] The ensemble is limited to these dancers, with no chorus, emphasizing intimate dynamics over large-scale spectacle.^[1] The structure begins with an opening sequence known as pepeson, where the Condong performs a solo introduction to set the scene, entering gracefully and establishing the ritual atmosphere through fluid, preparatory movements.^[26] This is followed by the entrance of the Legong duo, who join in mirrored synchronization, initiating the core narrative enactment in the pengawak phase with slow, melodious tempos and the Condong handing props like fans to aid transitions.^[26] The performance progresses to the pengecet phase, building intensity with faster rhythms, before reaching the climactic pengipuk phase featuring a duel or resolution through dynamic poses, where the Condong often assumes a supporting role such as a bird character to heighten the drama.^[26] The piece concludes with a brief pekaad phase, marked by a reverent sembah gesture of prayer and submission, allowing the dancers to exit harmoniously.^[26] Accompaniment comes from a gamelan ensemble, typically the gong semar pagulingan variant, positioned behind the dancers to create an immersive staging that envelops the performance in layered sound without visual distraction.^[1] Performances adapt to venue: in temple odalan ceremonies, audiences are seated in ritualistic settings within courtyards, prioritizing spiritual integration over theatrical flair; on proscenium stages for public shows, illumination and framing enhance visibility for larger crowds.^[27] A full traditional Legong performance typically lasts 30 to 60 minutes, though shortened versions for tourists may range from 10 to 15 minutes; as of 2025, Legong is often part of 60- to 90-minute shows combining multiple dances at venues like Ubud Palace.^[16]^[28]^[29]

Repertoire

Core Narrative

The core narrative of classical Legong draws from the Panji cycle, specifically the tale of the East Javanese king of Lasem, who becomes enamored with Princess Rangkesari of the Daha kingdom.^[26] In this story, King Lasem, driven by unrequited love, abducts the princess against her will, intending to force her into marriage, which sets off a chain of events highlighting themes of passionate desire clashing with personal autonomy.^[30] Rangkesari's brother, a valiant warrior prince, embarks on a perilous quest to rescue her, embodying the duty of familial protection and honor.^[31] The narrative unfolds without spoken dialogue, conveyed instead through intricate sequences of gestures and movements that depict the emotional turmoil of abduction, lamentation, and impending conflict.^[1] As the story progresses, key scenes emphasize the tension between love and fate. Rangkesari expresses her sorrow and resistance in poignant lament scenes, pleading for release while the king persists in his pursuit, his gestures portraying both ardor and arrogance.^[30] The warrior's arrival leads to a dramatic confrontation, where the rivals face off in stylized battle poses, symbolizing the broader struggle between individual will and cosmic order.^[26] A pivotal moment occurs when the condong dancer embodies a bird omen—a fierce messenger, often depicted as a crow—that swoops upon King Lasem as he rides to war, foretelling his doom after his horse stumbles; this intervention underscores the inexorable pull of destiny.^[1] The tale culminates in reconciliation or tragic resolution, with the princess's pleas and the omen's warning evoking a sense of inevitable harmony restored through sacrifice.^[31] Symbolically, the narrative weaves Hindu-Balinese moral lessons on dharma, illustrating how human actions must align with natural and divine forces to maintain balance. The bird, enacted by the condong, serves as a bridge between the earthly realm and the supernatural, representing the harmony between humans and nature as a guiding ethical principle.^[26] These elements are distilled into 8-10 gesture sequences in the archetypal 8-minute Keraton version, which abbreviates the full story to focus on key dramatic moments like the abduction, lament, and omen, prioritizing profound emotional depth—such as the king's hubris yielding to fateful humility—over elaborate plot intricacies.^[1]

Variants

Legong encompasses numerous variants, with scholars documenting up to 15 distinct types that adapt the core graceful techniques to different narratives and contexts across Bali.^[32] These forms maintain the intricate finger movements and expressive gestures central to the genre, while varying in story emphasis, duration, and regional execution.^[1] The most formal and widespread variant is Legong Keraton, a palace-derived performance lasting approximately 8 minutes that centers on the archetypal Lasem-Rangkesari tale of abduction and romance.^[26] Performed by three young female dancers—two legong and one condong—this version highlights refined, symmetrical patterns and is accompanied by the Semar Pagulingan gamelan ensemble, embodying Balinese royal aesthetics.^[33] Legong Lasem represents an extended narrative iteration, running about 12 minutes and based on the tale set in the Lasem region, with heightened focus on the king's descent into madness and the climactic battle sequences.^[34] This form expands the dramatic tension of the core story, incorporating more dynamic confrontations between the king, the princess, and symbolic figures like the ominous crow.^[34] Among other notable types, Legong Jobog, a shorter piece of around 5 minutes, draws from the Ramayana-inspired tale of monkey kings Subali and Sugriwa, depicting their rivalry over a nymph and Subali's fateful defeat by Prince Rama.^[35] Up to 15 such variants exist, including 20th-century innovations like Legong Kuntir and Legong Semarandana, some adapted for ritual purposes such as communal healing or offerings.^[32]^[36] Regional differences further diversify Legong, with southern Balinese styles featuring faster tempos and more vigorous dynamics, contrasted by the slower, gentler interpretations in northern Bali that prioritize lyrical flow.^[3] Since the 1980s, abbreviated versions have proliferated for tourist audiences, condensing narratives to 10-15 minutes while preserving essential motifs for broader accessibility.^[3]

Significance

Role in Balinese Culture

Legong holds a central place in Balinese Hindu society, where it may be performed at temple festivals such as odalan anniversaries, serving to entertain while contributing to communal celebrations and spiritual harmony.^[37] As a form of balih-balihan entertainment, it blends aesthetic display with communal reverence.^[6] Socially, Legong symbolizes ideal feminine grace and devotion, with its intricate movements by young female dancers embodying characters from Balinese narratives and drawing from tales like the Panji cycle to illustrate themes of loyalty, conflict, and harmony.^[1] This representation reinforces community cohesion and spiritual balance, positioning the dance as a cultural emblem of refined piety and interpersonal harmony within Balinese adat traditions.^[14] In its educational and communal dimensions, Legong is transmitted through banjar village councils, where rigorous training instills adat customs and preserves cultural heritage, often emphasizing gender dynamics as female performers channel divine essences.^[38] This practice fosters intergenerational continuity, enabling communities to uphold Balinese identity amid evolving social structures.^[1] Historically, prior to the 20th century, Legong was confined to royal palaces for elite rituals, embodying royal piety and exclusivity as a courtly privilege under aristocratic patronage.^[39] Post-World War II, it underwent democratization, expanding to community-based troupes that broadened access and integrated it into wider village life.^[38]

Global Recognition and Modern Adaptations

Legong gained international prominence beginning in the 1930s through performances by Balinese troupes at major European events, such as the 1931 Paris International Colonial Exposition, where the dance's intricate movements captivated audiences and influenced Western perceptions of Balinese artistry.^[40] This exposure continued in the 1950s with a Balinese ensemble's tour across Europe and the United States in 1952–1953, integrating Legong into global festival repertoires and fostering cross-cultural appreciation.^[41] The dance's worldwide recognition was further solidified in 2015 when UNESCO inscribed "Three genres of traditional dance in Bali"—encompassing sacred, semi-sacred, and entertainment forms including Legong Keraton—on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, highlighting its cultural significance and spurring international preservation initiatives.^[12]^[13] Tourism has profoundly shaped Legong's presentation since the early 20th century, with abridged versions emerging in the 1920s for visitor concerts in Bali's emerging hubs like Ubud and later Kuta, transforming the dance into a key economic driver for local performers while raising concerns over artistic dilution through simplified narratives and shortened durations.^[42] By the 1970s, these tourist-oriented adaptations had become fixtures in coastal and inland resorts, generating substantial revenue—contributing to Bali's tourism economy, which supports dance troupes amid commercialization pressures—but often at the expense of traditional depth, as noted by cultural observers critiquing the shift toward entertainment over ritual essence.^[43] Contemporary hybrid productions blending Legong with modern elements, such as Western contemporary dance, have emerged in Bali's performing arts scenes, offering innovative interpretations that appeal to diverse audiences while preserving core gestural vocabularies. In recent decades, Legong has seen experimental adaptations featuring male and adult performers, diverging from its classical emphasis on young female dancers to explore gender fluidity, including instances of male dancers in traditional roles.^[44] Balinese diaspora communities in Australia and the United States have established teaching programs to retain the dance, with groups like N U S A N T A R A Sydney Dance in Sydney and Nusantara Dance Company in Los Angeles offering workshops that transmit techniques to second-generation learners, ensuring cultural continuity abroad.^[45]^[46] Preservation efforts continue amid environmental challenges, with adaptations to materials for costumes. Online platforms like YouTube have democratized global access to Legong training as of 2025, with tutorial videos from Balinese instructors enabling remote learners worldwide to study foundational poses and sequences, supplementing in-person transmission.^[47]

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[39]
The origins of Balinese legong - jstor
In this paper I discuss the origin of the Balinese dance genre of legong. I date this from the late nineteenth century, with the dance achieving its ...
[40]
(PDF) Balinese Legong: revival or decline? - Academia.edu
In my understanding of the current status of the legong dance in Bali, despite dedicated local attempts to revitalize the genre, it is in decline.Missing: Institut post-