dances and dramatic performances form an important part of nearly every ritual on bali. they are seen as an integral part of balinese religion and culture and are employed as an expression of one's devotion to the gods as well as a means of instilling centuries-old values in each new generation of balinese, through the medium movement, music and words.

while in bali, make it a point to watch any of the local dances and performance as possible, especially here in ubud villages, just 5 to 10 minutes drive fro our hotel. each day there are perforance at temple that are open to public.

legong dance

formerly this classical legong kraton dance was performed for king's entertainment. this dance is performed by three girl dressed in gold brocades and flowered headdresses. the dance depicts the story about king of lasem kidnapped princess rangkasari, the daughter of king of daha. the princess' brother tries to persuade king of lasem to release the princess to avoid a war, but unfortunately the king denies to let her free. on the way to the war a giant eagle, a bad omen attacked him and killed him.

available daily

kecak and fire dance

kecak dance or monkey dance is the most unique balinese dance and a very exciting dance to watch. this dance is not accompanied by any gamelan orchestra but by a choir of hundred of man. It is originated from an old dance: sang hyang dance. In 1930's, walter spies, a German painter, and katherine mason, an author felt that the "cak' chorus of sang hyang dance could be taken out of its ritual purpose by combination a story line and it would be a fascinating dance. by the help of limbak a famous balinese dancer, they added the story of ramayana, an old indian epic, into the dance and named kecak dance or monkey dance. the fragment of ramayana epic tells about the efforts of king rama to rescue his beautiful wife who was kidnapped by king rahwana. with the help of sugriwa, the monkey king, anoman, the white monkey and monkey army, rama successfully got his wife back safe and sound. happily they return to their palace at ayodya after the end of their exile as a new king.

available daily

wayang kulit (shadow puppet)  

the puppets is made out of a dried, engrave and graphicaly  coloured cow skin. it shape relates to its character. there are monster puppet that characterized a bad person and a good person will be presented with a goodlooking puppet. in " wayang  kulit " story  it always tells the audience  that a good person always win and the bad one will be loss.traditional shadow -puppet theatre, generally based on the mahabharata and ramayana epics; performed late at night on ritual occasions for the pleasure of the gods and the moral and spiritual instruction of the community.

available 4 times a week

jegog (bamboo traditional music)

jegog is a kind of traditional bamboo music or gamelan from jembrana region, west bali. jembrana is "the home of jegog", which was created by kiyang geliduh in sebual village in 1912. the instruments are 90 percents made from bamboo in various measures and scales. the biggest is 300cm length, 18cm diameter, and 2cm thickness.

available twice a week

barong and keris dance

this powerful performance represent an eternal fight and struggle between good and evil. good spirit is personified by barong keket, a mythological animal, strange, fun loving and seems like a lion. on the other side, rangda represent the evil spirit. rangda is a wicked mythological monster, a witch and she has a big magical power. rangda is very powerful, the followers' of barong, bearing the keris knife comes to help him to fight the rangda. retreats to recuperate her strength for the next encounter. by the end of the performance, the priest come to help the keris dancers get their consciousness back by sprinkling holy water. 

available twice a week

ramayana ballet

the ramayana is a great hindu epic that is loved all over south east asia. the most popular episode tells the story of prince rama, his wife sita, and his brother laksmana. they are banished from their kingdom and wandering through the forest. one day, while hunting for deer, they are tricked by the evil rahwana, who kidnaps sita. with the help of the mythical garuda, and hanuman - a white monkey general, prince rama eventually saves his wife.

available once a week

calonarang dance

the c alonarang  is a story about a widow who practices black magic in the town graveyard. this dance essentially combines all the other balinese dances into one. in the story, the widow is putting many young women under spells and is asked to stop. the widow does not stop, and in fact turns into rangda, the manifestation of evil. at this point, the barong appears and we get the life and death struggle of good and evil again. there are bits of stand up comedy performed in sections of the play, solo dances are performed.

available once a week

gambuh dance

there broods over balinese dance an ancestral shade; every dance-form, one is often told, is ultimately derived from gamboeh; all dance-technique originates in its movements, all scales and melodies from its peculiar gamelan music.

available twice a month