Topeng Dances of Bali and Java

10 February 2003

A Central Javanese topeng dance depicting King Klana's unrequited love for princess Dewi Candra Kirana.

About topeng

Topeng, or masked dance-theatre, is an art form found in the islands of western Indonesia, particularly Java and Bali. Available historical sources suggest that the Indonesian practise of telling stories and depicting mythological, legendary and historical characters with masks dates back at least 1000 years. Masking culture has developed in complex ways over the centuries, integrating with local cultural patterns and themes, aesthetic tendencies, systems and styles of patronage and audience expectations.

There are numerous variants of topeng to be found throughout the Indonesian archipelago. In topeng dalang found on the island of Madura, stories from the pan-Asian Mahabharata and Ramayana epics are enacted by a cast of masked actor-dancers; all dialogue and narration is spoken by an off-stage narrator (dhalang). The topeng babakan associated with the Cirebon region of western Java was originally a busking tradition performed by small itinerant troupes in market places and crossroads. Sponsors would pay for a certain number of scenes (babak) to be danced. If they liked what they saw, they would pay for more. This evening I Nyoman Wenten and Gamelan Naga Mas will perform two contrasting forms of topeng from Central Java and Bali.

The Central Javanese topeng is today mostly performed as isolated character dances, although in the past entire masked dramas, similar to Madura’s topeng dalang, were popular. Topeng is simultaneously a form associated with the royal courts of Surakarta and Yogyakarta and with the general populace. It is commonly performed for wedding receptions as an entertainment for guests. Characters are drawn from Javanese myth and legend. It is typical for Central Javanese dancers to specialize in one masked dance.

Tonight we present one of the most frequently performed Central Javanese topeng dances, enacting the character of King Klana, the rapacious and extroverted king who has fallen in love with the princess Dewi Candra Kirana, the intended bride of the refined and virtuous prince Panji. The dance portrays King Klana’s unrequited love for the princess and is an example of the gagah (boldly energetic) dance style, with large and strong movements.

Topeng in Bali is performed as part of temple celebrations and a variety of other ritual and secular occasions. A number of different topeng forms are extent in Bali; in the most virtuostic topeng pajegan a solo dancer-actor will tell an entire story through assuming a variety of contrasting masked character-types. Performances are a mixture of high comedy and intense realisation of cosmic power. The best performers are praised for their taksu, a Balinese word roughly translating as the ‘presence of the actor’ but implying an ability to mediate between sacred forces and the human audience.

Tonight we present three masked-dances, Topeng Keras, Topeng Tua and Bandresan. All of these dances enact particular character types that are found in many (if not all) Balinese plays. Topeng Keras enacts a hardened and tough (keras) character, so aggressive that he often scares himself, to slightly comical effect. Topeng Tua enacts an old (tua) man, bent and withered with age, who recalls an earlier age when he possessed more energy and vigour. Bondresan are comical characters (mostly in half-masks), the zanies of Balinese topeng, whose antics enliven performances with references to contemporary events and themes. The other characters of topeng are drawn from a mythological chronotope. The Bondresan are part of our shared social universe, and speak without pretension to the concerns of everyday life.

Programme

About I Nyoman Wenten

Professor I Nyoman Wenten, Ph.D., is chair of World Music at the California Institute of the Arts (United States) and a world renowned dancer and musician specializing in the performing arts of Bali and Java. He has toured and performed throughout the United States, the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Japan, Mexico, and Europe and has taught at the National Academy of Dance in both Bali and Java, and at many music and dance programs in the United States.