Transforming Movement into Sound: Music-Movement Relationships in the Balinese Mask Dance Jauk keras.
by Kurt Schatz
In this article, the music-movement interrelation prevalent in Balinese solo dance performances will be showcased using Jauk keras as an example. Before discussing how specific movements and movement patterns executed by the dancer influence the musical outcome of such a performance, a short general description of Jauk keras will be given, followed by remarks regarding the performance mode of the different actors taking part in a performance of Jauk keras and the leadership relations prevalent between those actors. The audio and video examples provided in this article are taken from recordings I made during my twelve months of field work on the Indonesian island of Bali, during which I learned to dance as well as to musically accompany Jauk keras. The focus will be laid on how a dancer's movements influence a drummer's patterns, since dancer and drummer are in constant, direct dialogue during the course of such a performance.
1. What is Jauk Keras?
The Balinese term Jauk denotes a family of masked, improvisational, male, solo dances as well as a demonic character stemming from Balinese Hindu mythology which is depicted by the dancer in a performance. Each dance belonging to this family of dances is identified by the word Jauk, followed by another term – usually an Indonesian adjective – describing the Jauk's main character trait, which is reflected in the appearance of the mask worn by the dancer as well as in the overall movement style used to perform each individual dance.
Jauk keras is the first dance of the Jauk dance family a student learns. The dance does not depict a story, instead the dancer enacts the role of a fierce, short-tempered (keras) demon that explores the reality it has been summoned in. The sudden and impulsive movements incorporated in the dance, the red mask with its bulbous eyes and protruding teeth worn by the dancer as well as the long fingernails attached to the dancer’s gloves distinguish it as demonic and keras. Jauk keras is mainly danced by children, teenagers and young adults and can be seen at temple festivals, in dance competitions, and in the context of tourist performances.
Figure 1. Jauk keras dancer.
Figure 2. Kendang.
In a performance, the dancer can be accompanied by one of two different kind of Balinese music ensembles, made up predominantly of percussive instruments such as gongs and metallophones. An umbrella term referring to such ensembles is gamelan. No matter what kind of gamelan accompanies the dance, a solo drummer playing on a double-skin conical drum (kendang) takes the role of the ensemble's musical leader.
2. Performance mode and leadership during performance
The performers taking part in a performance of Jauk keras can be seen as different actors that fulfill different roles and relate to each other in specific ways. In my opinion, there are basically three actors discernable in a performance of Jauk keras, each taking a different role, contributing a different but needed element, making such a performance complete. These actors are the dancer, the drummer, and the musicians of the gamelan.
The dancer can be seen as the overall leader of a performance, controlling its structural progression as well as the musical outcome of each performance part solely through means of movement. The dancer has the freedom to improvise, meaning that he/she arranges the dance on the spot by stringing together movements and movement patterns taken from the set movement repertoire associated with Jauk keras. The dance improvisation follows a schematic procedure prescribing which movement patterns need to be executed during which part of a performance to make it complete. This schematic procedure should not be seen as a rigid framework, comparable to a precomposed choreography that would not allow any sort of variation, but only includes a rough order of the obligatory movement patterns that must be included in a performance. All the movements and movement patterns a dancer decides to execute must align to the melody and metric structure provided by the musicians of the gamelan. If this is not the case, a dancer's cue that should cause musical change might not be understood by the musicians, so that the musical accompaniment would remain unchanged.
The drummer takes the role of musical leader of the gamelan which makes him/her the mediator between the dancer and the ensemble musicians. It is the drummer's responsibility to respond to the cues and signs conveyed through movement by the dancer with appropriate drumming patterns that fit the situational circumstances. Furthermore, the drummer has to signal the other musicians to change the music if the dancer's movements so require. Since the dance is improvised by the dancer on the spot, the drummer also needs to improvise in order to be able to accomplish these two things. Improvisation in this context means that the drummer chooses and arranges his/her patterns on the spot, in accordance with the movements of the dancer. To be able to improvise on kendang, the drummer must memorize a repertoire of valid patterns that can be stringed together, rearranged and recombined when performing. Which patterns a drummer chooses to play is first and foremost dependable on the dancer's movements, since certain movements or movement patterns need a certain drumming pattern or individual drum strokes to be played at the right point in time. Only if the drumming corresponds with the dance, a convincing performance is ensured.
The musicians of the gamelan provide the musical frame in which dancer and drummer improvise. In contrast to these two actors, the musicians of the gamelan are confined to playing pre-composed, cyclical compositions that are repeated an indefinite number of times. While gong pattern as well as core melody remain stable throughout repetitions of a cyclical composition, the music played on instruments elaborating the core melody can change melodically as well as dynamically. The signal to increase the volume or play a specific melodic phrase is always given by the drummer, who acts in response to the movements of the dancer. If such a signal is not provided by the drummer, although the movements of the dancer require musical change, the music of the gamelan remains unchanged. It is therefore valid to say that, although considered the overall leader of a Jauk keras performance, the dancer is only followed by the drummer, while the rest of the gamelan musicians only follow the drummer and therefore do not stand in direct dialogue with the dancer.
3. Transforming movement into sound
In a performance of Jauk keras, a dancer's movements strongly influence the arrangement, choice, and configuration of a drummer's patterns. In certain situations, also the music played by the musicians of the gamelan is affected by the movements of the dancer, while the drummer is responsible to orchestrate musical change in such situations. In this section, I want to elaborate on certain movements and movement patterns that must be sonically accentuated by certain drum strokes/timbres or accompanied by a specific drumming pattern. Among these are those that progress the musical structure and those that add ‘flavor’ to the performance.
3. 1 Adding embellishments I: foot movement
The intensity of the dancer’s foot movement during a performance affects the drummer’s choice of drumming patterns. A basic rule in choosing a matching drumming pattern is that intensified foot movement (i.e. fast walking, jumps or turns) matches with drumming patterns that incorporate a high number of deep-pitched drum strokes referred to as dag (audio 1).
audio 1
audio 2
Stasis is best accompanied with drumming patterns that not at all or only sparsely employ the dag stroke. Some singular accented feet movements (i.e. an abrupt lift of one foot) require the drummer to respond with a loud slap stroke on the kendang’s smaller skin, commonly referred to as pak (audio 2). All this is showcased in the following video.
At the beginning of the video, the dancer hardly moves his feet, having the effect that the drummer refrains from playing patterns that incorporate a high number of dag strokes. This changes at second 10. The intensity in foot movement increases, as does the number of dag strokes incorporated in the drummer's patterns. The accentuation of single steps by loud pak strokes is evident at seconds 19, 20, 22, and 23. At second 24, the dancer signals the drummer by executing several small but fast steps in place that he is going to change to fast walking, lasting until second 30. After that the dancer returns to walking at usual pace. The drumming patterns to accompany the dancer's fast walking show a high number of dag strokes, which decreases significantly when the dancer walks at usual pace. The very last step by the dancer included in the video at second 39 is again accentuated by a loud pak stroke.
3.2 Adding embellishments II: seledet and kipekan
Seledet is an accented sideways eye movement supported by the dancer’s head sharply tilting into the opposite direction of the eyes’ glance. Seledet requires the drummer to respond with a loud pak stroke.
The term kipekan translates as ‘diversion of gaze’ and refers to abrupt head movements of the dancer. As with seledet, the drummer is also expected to react to kipekan with a loud pak stroke.
Seledet and kipekan are often employed in combination to provide accents in the performance. The frequency of these movements in the course of a performance is left up to the dancer, but they have to be executed at the right points in time during the gong cycle to be considered correctly matching the musical structure. In the following video, seledet and kipekan are showcased.
At second 5, the dancer executes a single seledet, which is sonically accentuated by a single pak stroke. From second 7 until second 9, the dancer performs two kipekan followed by a single seledet. All these movements are again sonically accentuated by pak strokes.
3.3 Advancing the structure: angsel/ngopak
Angsel or ngopak are movement sequences which require an increase in volume by the whole gamelan as well as the rendition of a matching drumming pattern by the drummer. From a musical point of view, there are four different kinds of angsel, ranging in length from about half a gong cycle up to several gong cycles. While some angsel are merely performed to provide accents in the performance and give shape and verve to the dancer's rendition of the Jauk character, there are other kind of angsel which are performed to progress the performance on a macro-structural level of form.
Although the arrangement and number of angsel during a Jauk keras performance is up to the dancer, they have to be initiated and stopped at certain points in time during the gong cycle. The timing of the most basic form of angsel in Jauk keras, angsel bawak, in regard to the gong cycle is demonstrated in the following figure. For each of the two types of gongs (gong, klentong) used to sound the gong pattern as shown in figure 3, audio examples have been provided (audio 3, audio 4), so that these two colotomic markers can be sonically identified in the later video.
audio 3
audio 4
Figure 3. Angsel bawak in regard to the 8-beat gong cycle of Jauk keras. G = gong; t = klentong.
As figure 3 shows, the dancer gives the cue for this angsel in between the fifth and sixth beat, while the drummer responds in between the sixth and seventh beat. The rest of the gamelan follows the cue of the drummer by increasing their volume with the approaching gong (G) on the eighth beat. The gamelan continues to play loud until the fifth beat where it sounds a last open note and remains quiet until the next gong. The angsel is ended by the dancer with a quick sideways eye glance (seledet) finished around the sixth beat, while the drummer responds to it in between the sixth and seventh beat with a loud pak stroke.
The timing of executing angsel bawak as depicted in figure 3 is based on how it was explained and taught to me by my dance and music teachers. How angsel bawak is executed in practice is showcased in the following video.
As indicated by the text in the upper left corner of the video, the execution of angsel bawak starts at second 9. By intensifying the movements, the dancer signalizes that he is going to execute angsel bawak. In regard to the gong cycle, this happens at the sixth beat. The drummer reacts by loudly playing a specific angsel pattern, which serves as a cue for the musicians of the gamelan that angsel bawak will be performed in the next gong cycle, and also appropriately accompanies the dancer's movements. For the single musician that melodically accompanies the dancer in the video, the drummer's cue tells him to play angsel, what from a melodic perspective means to play basically the same melody as before but louder. The difference between the usual melody and angsel melody is that the latter ends on the fifth beat with a short melodic phrase that signalizes the end of angsel from a melodic point of view. This short melodic phrase coincides with the dancer's seledet (second 12), which ends angsel from his perspective. The dancer's seledet is shortly after being executed sonically accentuated by the drummer playing a single pak stroke. This shows that in practice, the appropriate time to end angsel bawak from the perspective of the dancer can also be around the fifth beat, which also forces the drummer to end earlier as indicated in figure 3.
4. Conclusion
Movement and sound are strongly interrelated in the performance of Jauk keras. While the drummer is the musical leader of the gamelan, the dancer by means of defined movement sequences shapes the formal progression and musical embellishment of a performance. Especially a drummer's patterns are strongly influenced by the movements of the dancer. They are chosen and arranged in accordance with the dance improvisation, representing a sonic translation of the dance. By knowing what kind of movement triggers what kind of sonic response, a deeper understanding of Balinese drum improvisation is gained. To establish the close relationship between movement and music necessary to ensure a convincing performance, long years of training and extensive performance experience are essential for both the dancer and the drummer. Proper timing and clarity in performing the various movement cues are paramount features of a good dancer. Accordingly, a well-trained drummer is characterized by anticipating, reacting and responding to the movements of the dancer quickly and appropriate.
Kurt Schatz is a master's candidate in Ethnomusicology at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from aforementioned university and is employed as student assistant at the University’s Institute of Ethnomusicology, and at the FWF project Tango-Danceability of Music in European Perspective. His research focuses on Balinese performing arts. He is co-author and co-editor of LiedSammlerVolk (2016), copy-editor of Dance, Senses, Urban Contexts (2017) and was honored for the best student presentation at the 5th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group PASEA (2018).
Transforming Movement into Sound: Music-Movement Relationships in the Balinese Mask Dance Jauk keras.
by Kurt Schatz
In this article, the music-movement interrelation prevalent in Balinese solo dance performances will be showcased using Jauk keras as an example. Before discussing how specific movements and movement patterns executed by the dancer influence the musical outcome of such a performance, a short general description of Jauk keras will be given, followed by remarks regarding the performance mode of the different actors taking part in a performance of Jauk keras and the leadership relations prevalent between those actors. The audio and video examples provided in this article are taken from recordings I made during my twelve months of field work on the Indonesian island of Bali, during which I learned to dance as well as to musically accompany Jauk keras. The focus will be laid on how a dancer's movements influence a drummer's patterns, since dancer and drummer are in constant, direct dialogue during the course of such a performance.
1. What is Jauk Keras?
The Balinese term Jauk denotes a family of masked, improvisational, male, solo dances as well as a demonic character stemming from Balinese Hindu mythology which is depicted by the dancer in a performance. Each dance belonging to this family of dances is identified by the word Jauk, followed by another term – usually an Indonesian adjective – describing the Jauk's main character trait, which is reflected in the appearance of the mask worn by the dancer as well as in the overall movement style used to perform each individual dance.
Jauk keras is the first dance of the Jauk dance family a student learns. The dance does not depict a story, instead the dancer enacts the role of a fierce, short-tempered (keras) demon that explores the reality it has been summoned in. The sudden and impulsive movements incorporated in the dance, the red mask with its bulbous eyes and protruding teeth worn by the dancer as well as the long fingernails attached to the dancer’s gloves distinguish it as demonic and keras. Jauk keras is mainly danced by children, teenagers and young adults and can be seen at temple festivals, in dance competitions, and in the context of tourist performances.
Figure 1. Jauk keras dancer.
Figure 2. Kendang.
In a performance, the dancer can be accompanied by one of two different kind of Balinese music ensembles, made up predominantly of percussive instruments such as gongs and metallophones. An umbrella term referring to such ensembles is gamelan. No matter what kind of gamelan accompanies the dance, a solo drummer playing on a double-skin conical drum (kendang) takes the role of the ensemble's musical leader.
2. Performance mode and leadership during performance
The performers taking part in a performance of Jauk keras can be seen as different actors that fulfill different roles and relate to each other in specific ways. In my opinion, there are basically three actors discernable in a performance of Jauk keras, each taking a different role, contributing a different but needed element, making such a performance complete. These actors are the dancer, the drummer, and the musicians of the gamelan.
The dancer can be seen as the overall leader of a performance, controlling its structural progression as well as the musical outcome of each performance part solely through means of movement. The dancer has the freedom to improvise, meaning that he/she arranges the dance on the spot by stringing together movements and movement patterns taken from the set movement repertoire associated with Jauk keras. The dance improvisation follows a schematic procedure prescribing which movement patterns need to be executed during which part of a performance to make it complete. This schematic procedure should not be seen as a rigid framework, comparable to a precomposed choreography that would not allow any sort of variation, but only includes a rough order of the obligatory movement patterns that must be included in a performance. All the movements and movement patterns a dancer decides to execute must align to the melody and metric structure provided by the musicians of the gamelan. If this is not the case, a dancer's cue that should cause musical change might not be understood by the musicians, so that the musical accompaniment would remain unchanged.
The drummer takes the role of musical leader of the gamelan which makes him/her the mediator between the dancer and the ensemble musicians. It is the drummer's responsibility to respond to the cues and signs conveyed through movement by the dancer with appropriate drumming patterns that fit the situational circumstances. Furthermore, the drummer has to signal the other musicians to change the music if the dancer's movements so require. Since the dance is improvised by the dancer on the spot, the drummer also needs to improvise in order to be able to accomplish these two things. Improvisation in this context means that the drummer chooses and arranges his/her patterns on the spot, in accordance with the movements of the dancer. To be able to improvise on kendang, the drummer must memorize a repertoire of valid patterns that can be stringed together, rearranged and recombined when performing. Which patterns a drummer chooses to play is first and foremost dependable on the dancer's movements, since certain movements or movement patterns need a certain drumming pattern or individual drum strokes to be played at the right point in time. Only if the drumming corresponds with the dance, a convincing performance is ensured.
The musicians of the gamelan provide the musical frame in which dancer and drummer improvise. In contrast to these two actors, the musicians of the gamelan are confined to playing pre-composed, cyclical compositions that are repeated an indefinite number of times. While gong pattern as well as core melody remain stable throughout repetitions of a cyclical composition, the music played on instruments elaborating the core melody can change melodically as well as dynamically. The signal to increase the volume or play a specific melodic phrase is always given by the drummer, who acts in response to the movements of the dancer. If such a signal is not provided by the drummer, although the movements of the dancer require musical change, the music of the gamelan remains unchanged. It is therefore valid to say that, although considered the overall leader of a Jauk keras performance, the dancer is only followed by the drummer, while the rest of the gamelan musicians only follow the drummer and therefore do not stand in direct dialogue with the dancer.
3. Transforming movement into sound
In a performance of Jauk keras, a dancer's movements strongly influence the arrangement, choice, and configuration of a drummer's patterns. In certain situations, also the music played by the musicians of the gamelan is affected by the movements of the dancer, while the drummer is responsible to orchestrate musical change in such situations. In this section, I want to elaborate on certain movements and movement patterns that must be sonically accentuated by certain drum strokes/timbres or accompanied by a specific drumming pattern. Among these are those that progress the musical structure and those that add ‘flavor’ to the performance.
3. 1 Adding embellishments I: foot movement
The intensity of the dancer’s foot movement during a performance affects the drummer’s choice of drumming patterns. A basic rule in choosing a matching drumming pattern is that intensified foot movement (i.e. fast walking, jumps or turns) matches with drumming patterns that incorporate a high number of deep-pitched drum strokes referred to as dag (audio 1).
audio 1
audio 2
Stasis is best accompanied with drumming patterns that not at all or only sparsely employ the dag stroke. Some singular accented feet movements (i.e. an abrupt lift of one foot) require the drummer to respond with a loud slap stroke on the kendang’s smaller skin, commonly referred to as pak (audio 2). All this is showcased in the following video.
At the beginning of the video, the dancer hardly moves his feet, having the effect that the drummer refrains from playing patterns that incorporate a high number of dag strokes. This changes at second 10. The intensity in foot movement increases, as does the number of dag strokes incorporated in the drummer's patterns. The accentuation of single steps by loud pak strokes is evident at seconds 19, 20, 22, and 23. At second 24, the dancer signals the drummer by executing several small but fast steps in place that he is going to change to fast walking, lasting until second 30. After that the dancer returns to walking at usual pace. The drumming patterns to accompany the dancer's fast walking show a high number of dag strokes, which decreases significantly when the dancer walks at usual pace. The very last step by the dancer included in the video at second 39 is again accentuated by a loud pak stroke.
3.2 Adding embellishments II: seledet and kipekan
Seledet is an accented sideways eye movement supported by the dancer’s head sharply tilting into the opposite direction of the eyes’ glance. Seledet requires the drummer to respond with a loud pak stroke.
The term kipekan translates as ‘diversion of gaze’ and refers to abrupt head movements of the dancer. As with seledet, the drummer is also expected to react to kipekan with a loud pak stroke.
Seledet and kipekan are often employed in combination to provide accents in the performance. The frequency of these movements in the course of a performance is left up to the dancer, but they have to be executed at the right points in time during the gong cycle to be considered correctly matching the musical structure. In the following video, seledet and kipekan are showcased.
At second 5, the dancer executes a single seledet, which is sonically accentuated by a single pak stroke. From second 7 until second 9, the dancer performs two kipekan followed by a single seledet. All these movements are again sonically accentuated by pak strokes.
3.3 Advancing the structure: angsel/ngopak
Angsel or ngopak are movement sequences which require an increase in volume by the whole gamelan as well as the rendition of a matching drumming pattern by the drummer. From a musical point of view, there are four different kinds of angsel, ranging in length from about half a gong cycle up to several gong cycles. While some angsel are merely performed to provide accents in the performance and give shape and verve to the dancer's rendition of the Jauk character, there are other kind of angsel which are performed to progress the performance on a macro-structural level of form.
Although the arrangement and number of angsel during a Jauk keras performance is up to the dancer, they have to be initiated and stopped at certain points in time during the gong cycle. The timing of the most basic form of angsel in Jauk keras, angsel bawak, in regard to the gong cycle is demonstrated in the following figure. For each of the two types of gongs (gong, klentong) used to sound the gong pattern as shown in figure 3, audio examples have been provided (audio 3, audio 4), so that these two colotomic markers can be sonically identified in the later video.
audio 3
audio 4
Figure 3. Angsel bawak in regard to the 8-beat gong cycle of Jauk keras. G = gong; t = klentong.
As figure 3 shows, the dancer gives the cue for this angsel in between the fifth and sixth beat, while the drummer responds in between the sixth and seventh beat. The rest of the gamelan follows the cue of the drummer by increasing their volume with the approaching gong (G) on the eighth beat. The gamelan continues to play loud until the fifth beat where it sounds a last open note and remains quiet until the next gong. The angsel is ended by the dancer with a quick sideways eye glance (seledet) finished around the sixth beat, while the drummer responds to it in between the sixth and seventh beat with a loud pak stroke.
The timing of executing angsel bawak as depicted in figure 3 is based on how it was explained and taught to me by my dance and music teachers. How angsel bawak is executed in practice is showcased in the following video.
As indicated by the text in the upper left corner of the video, the execution of angsel bawak starts at second 9. By intensifying the movements, the dancer signalizes that he is going to execute angsel bawak. In regard to the gong cycle, this happens at the sixth beat. The drummer reacts by loudly playing a specific angsel pattern, which serves as a cue for the musicians of the gamelan that angsel bawak will be performed in the next gong cycle, and also appropriately accompanies the dancer's movements. For the single musician that melodically accompanies the dancer in the video, the drummer's cue tells him to play angsel, what from a melodic perspective means to play basically the same melody as before but louder. The difference between the usual melody and angsel melody is that the latter ends on the fifth beat with a short melodic phrase that signalizes the end of angsel from a melodic point of view. This short melodic phrase coincides with the dancer's seledet (second 12), which ends angsel from his perspective. The dancer's seledet is shortly after being executed sonically accentuated by the drummer playing a single pak stroke. This shows that in practice, the appropriate time to end angsel bawak from the perspective of the dancer can also be around the fifth beat, which also forces the drummer to end earlier as indicated in figure 3.
4. Conclusion
Movement and sound are strongly interrelated in the performance of Jauk keras. While the drummer is the musical leader of the gamelan, the dancer by means of defined movement sequences shapes the formal progression and musical embellishment of a performance. Especially a drummer's patterns are strongly influenced by the movements of the dancer. They are chosen and arranged in accordance with the dance improvisation, representing a sonic translation of the dance. By knowing what kind of movement triggers what kind of sonic response, a deeper understanding of Balinese drum improvisation is gained. To establish the close relationship between movement and music necessary to ensure a convincing performance, long years of training and extensive performance experience are essential for both the dancer and the drummer. Proper timing and clarity in performing the various movement cues are paramount features of a good dancer. Accordingly, a well-trained drummer is characterized by anticipating, reacting and responding to the movements of the dancer quickly and appropriate.
Kurt Schatz is a master's candidate in Ethnomusicology at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from aforementioned university and is employed as student assistant at the University’s Institute of Ethnomusicology, and at the FWF project Tango-Danceability of Music in European Perspective. His research focuses on Balinese performing arts. He is co-author and co-editor of LiedSammlerVolk (2016), copy-editor of Dance, Senses, Urban Contexts (2017) and was honored for the best student presentation at the 5th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group PASEA (2018).
