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Kecak (pronounced: "KEH-chahk", alternate spellings: Ketjak, Ketjack, and Ketiak), a form of Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak", and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where monkeys help Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.

In the 1930's Wayan Limbak worked with German painter Walter Spies to create the Kecak from movements and themes in the traditional sanghyang exorcism ritual and the portions of the Ramayana. This collaboration between artists worked to create a dance that was both authentic to Balinese traditions but also palatable to Western tourist's narrow tastes at the time. Wayan Limbak popularized the dance by traveling throughout the world with Balinese performance groups. These travels have helped to make the Kecak famous throughout the world.

Video of a Kecak performance is prominently featured in the 1992 film Baraka. Several audio recordings are commercially available.

History of Kecak Dance

The Kecak Dance tells the Indian story of Ramayana. Rama, a warrior and rightful hier to the throne of Ayodya, is exiled with his wife Sita to a faraway desert. There, an evil king spies Sita, falls in love with her, and sends a golden deer to lure Rama away. Sita is captured, and Rama rounds up his armies to defeat those of the evil king and rescue her. Rama is the man in green dancing in the center of the circle, the golden deer is in yellow in the back.

What makes the Kecak such a fascinating dance to watch are the fifty or so men in the checkered pants. They are both the choir and the props, providing the music for the story in a series of constant vocal chants that change with the mood of the actors. They don't sit still, either, they wave their arms to simulate fire, and reposition themselves around the stage to represent wind and fire, prison cells, and unseen hand of protection from the gods.

The dance is played in five acts and lasts roughly 45 minutes. Weekly (in some places daily) performances of the Kecak abound around the island, but the most well-known Kecak theater is in the town of Batubulan just north of the Balinese capital of Denpasar. The dance company provides transportation for a nominal fee to and from the resort.

Attending a Kecak recital is a must for any visitor to Bali . It is a wondrous experience, and a window into the musical and artistic culture that make the Balinese a special people.

Story of Kecak Dance (Desa Pakraman Taman Kaja-Ubud)

What makes the Kecak special is that the accompanying music is provided by the human voice, the gamelan suara, a choir of a hundred men or more sitting in concentric circles, swaying, standing up, lying prone as the story develops.Amongst the swaying masses the voices of the storytellers can be heard telling the unfolding tale.

The story is a fragment from the Ramayana, the Hindu epic which finds its expression in many forms, not only in dance, but also in painting and carving.

Prince Rama, heir to the throne of the kingdom of Ayodya, and his wife Sita have been banished from the kingdom by King Dasarata as a result of trickery by Rama’s stepmother. The story begins with the arrival of Rama and Sita accompanied by Rama’s brother Laksmana in the forest of Dandaka.

The trio have been observed by the demon Rahwana, King of Alengka, who lusts after the beautiful Sita. Rahwana sends his prime minister Marica to try and isolate Sita so that Rahwana can kidnap her. Marica's magical powers turn him into a golden deer and he enters the forest and when the Sita sees the golden deer she is so enchanted by it that she asks Rama to capture it for her. Rama chases after the deer leaving his brother Laksamana behind with strict instuction to protec Sita. When Sita thinks she hears a cry for help from Rama she forces Laksamana to go after Rama by accusing him of cowardice and he goes off to help Rama with great reluctance after drawing a magic circle on the ground and telling Sita the she should not under any circumstance step out side the circle.

Sita, left alone in the forest becomes an easy prey to the trickery of Rahwana who has disguised himself has an old periest and bags Sita for some food as he is cold and hungry. Sita falls for for his trick, she steps outside the circle to give the old priest some food and rahwana grabs her and takes her to his palace.

Once back in his palace in Alengka, Rahwana tries everything he can to seduce Sita without any luck.

In the palace of Alengka, Sita pours out her heart about her cruel fate to Rahwana's niece Trijata, when Hanoman appears telling her that hi is Rama's envoy and proving it by showing her Rama's ring. Sita gives Hanoman a hairpin to show she is still alive and sand him back to Rama with a massage to come to her rescue.

In the meantime Rama and Laksamana accompanied by Tualen are wandering in the forest looking for Sita when Meganada, Rahwana's son, appeares and engages Rama and Laksamana in Battle. Meganada uses his magic powers and shoots of an arrow which magically turns in to a dragon which overpowers Rama and Laksamana and they are trussed up in ropes.

The bird Garuda, King of all the bird, a good friend of King Dasarata, has observed trouble Rama is in from high up in the sky and comes to the rescue freeing the brothers from the ropes.

Rama and Laksamana continue on their way to rescue Sita and are joined by Sugriwa, king of the monkeyes, and his monkeys army.This fragmen of the Ramayana come to an end with the bittle between Sugriwa and his Monkeys Army and Meganada and his Demon Army which ends with the defeat of Meganada.

Sanghyang Djaran (Fire Trance Dance)

The Sangyang is God-Inspirid trance-dance the fungcion of wich is to protect society against evil forces and epidemics. it can take several forms and the version here presented is the Sangyang Djaran, djaran meaning horse. In Java as well as on Bali the hobby-horse is associeted with trance and is also seen in the Kuda Kepang of West Java in a similar funcion. The 'Hose Rider' is lulled into trance by the repetitive sound of the gamelan suara and in his tranced state he walks on a bed of barning coconut husks responding to the rising and faling of the sound of the gamelan suara

HOW TO DO KECAK DANCE

The Kecak is an unusual Balinese dance for a couple of reasons.

First, there is no musical accompaniment. The gamelan is not there. Rhythm is provided by a chanting 'monkey' chorus. The polyrhythmic sound of the chanting provides the name, 'Ke-chak'.

The Kecak is an unusual Balinese dance for a couple of reasons.

First, there is no musical accompaniment. The gamelan is not there. Rhythm is provided by a chanting 'monkey' chorus. The polyrhythmic sound of the chanting provides the name, 'Ke-chak'
The story line for the Kecak is taken from the Ramayana. Prince Rama goes hunting for a golden deer and his beautiful wife is kidnapped by the evil Rawana. Story is secondary in this performance, though. If you want to see the story of the Ramayana, you should see a Ramayana performance.

The Kecak is a triumph of style and mood, rather than story. Watch the faces of audience members. More than any other Balinese dance, the Kecak turns every viewer into a child, wide-eyed and transfixed.

Modern 'Chak-a-chak-a-chak' dance developed

The modern Kecak dance has evolved in the Bona Village and Batubulan areas near Gianyar in East Bali, and is regularly performed in late afternoon, at around 6:30 p.m.

The kecak dance is an unusual one, and probably the best known of the many Balinese dances. When performed, it does not employ the use of gamelan as an accompaniment, but instead the background is provided by a chanting chorus of a large group of men producing the repetitious sound of 'chak-a-chack-chack'.

Originally, this chanting group was known as the kecak and was part of a Sang Hyang trance dance, which is performed to ward off evil spirits and diseases during times of plague. In the 1930s, the famous kecak dancer and founding father of this dance, Pak Limbak, went on to recount his engagements with Walter Spies.

When performed inside a temple area, the kecak dance is excellent entertainment for travellers to Bali, but it also has ritual purposes that many remain unaware of. It stimulates the invisible superpower to enter one of the group members until he is in a state of trance, and then casts away the evil spirits. Special offerings must be made before it is performed in order to clean the stage spiritually from the dirt (ie. of evil spirits).

Throughout the dance, the surrounding circle of men, all bare chested and wearing checked cloth around their waists, provide a non-stop accompaniment that rises to crescendo as they play the monkey army and fight it out with Rahwana and his cronies. The chanting is superbly synchronized.

The Kecak dance tells a tale from the Ramayana epic, one of the great Hindu holy books, about Prince Rama, his Princess Sita, and Rama's brother, Laksamana, who have been exiled from the kingdom of Ayodya and are wandering in the forest. The evil Rahwana, king of Alengka Pura, kidnaps Sita when Rama leaves her to help Laksamana (his brother) to catch a golden deer, which she very much wants.

Thousands of monkeys under the leader Hanuman (the white monkey) assist Rama to save his beloved wife. The drand finale is a great battle, where good wins out over evil and Rama and Sita returned home - but Rahwana and his brother Kumbakarna were killed by monkey troop.

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