For a perspective on the state of dance in Bali today from one of its top dancers, many tourist shows in South Bali hotels offer a smorgasbord of dances – a little Kecak, a taste of Legong and some Barong to round it off. Some of these performances can be pretty abbreviated with just a few musicians and a couple of dancers. Balinese love a blend of seriousness and slapstick, and this shows in their dances. Some have a decidedly comic element, with clowns who convey the story and also act as a counterpoint to the staid, noble characters. Most dancers are not professionals. Dance is learned by performing, and carefully following the movements of an expert. It tends to be precise, jerky, shifting and jumpy, remarkably like Balinese music, with its abrupt changes of tempo and dramatic contrasts between silence and crashing noise. There’s little of the soaring leaps or the smooth flowing movements of Western dance. Every movement of wrist, hand and fingers is charged with meaning; and facial expressions are carefully choreographed to convey the character of the dance. Watch the local children cheer the good characters and cringe back from the stage when the demons appear.

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