Wonderful Kechak Dance at Ubud

There are traditional dances in Ubud every night of the week. We were lucky to attend one near our guesthouse along Jalan Raya. You can check at tourist information for the dance times and venues.

We arrived about 30 minutes before the 7:30pm performance and got good front-row seats in the open-air performance area in front of some temple-looking grounds. There was a cool breeze going, and it was magical watching the lighting of a fire in the dark starry night. Local ladies were on hand to sell drinks, bananas, and mangosteen.

The performance began with the Kechak, one of the best-known traditional Balinese dances that features a male choir instead of instruments. The male choir was mesmerising, with their unique voice movements imitating various characters and animals. Amidst this audio-visual backdrop, costumed dancers enacted a story from the Ramayana. The dancers’ movements were delicate and expressions so well emoted that I was really absorbed in the tale, although I didn’t understand a word. At a certain point, the Monkey King dancer would even mingle with the audience. Many people found it fun, but I felt it was creepy and just wanted him to go away.

After that wonderful performance, a huge bonfire made of burning coconut husks was built in the middle of the performance area. A young man emerged on a wooden horse, and he seemed to be in a trance. All of a sudden, he leapt into the fire and on the burning husks. He did it many times until the fire burned out. It was scary. Towards the end, two men came to hold down the man, and a priest came to sprinkle holy water on him. The trance was then broken, and then the man sat on the ground and nursed his head like he had a major migraine, his feet black with charcoal.

The whole performance took about an hour, but was one of the most intriguing performances I have ever seen. It is definitely something worth experiencing.