Bali Echo Magazine Edition 52 | Ni Ketut Cenik Legendary Dancer Of Bali

from Daha who will bring news of the wedding plans. In Daha, the Penasar and Wijil talk. about their work as servants to King Erlangga. The king orders them to take a letter to his minister, Patih Murdi. The letter contains the king's decision not to marry Ratna Menggali because the subjects of Daha disagree with his decision. The people, knowing that Ratna Menggali's mother is skilled in black magic, fear that the daughter may also be a sorceress, and that l the King and Daha itself would be in

danger. Patih Madri goes to Dirah where he delivers the letter to Sira Walu Nateng Dirah who is very enraged with the news. She tells Patih Madri to return to King Erlangga and tell him to be prepared for many misfortunes which she will bring upon his kingdom. On his way back to Daha, Patih Madri meets Ni Rarung.

She blocks his way and to demonstrate her magical powers she goes to the graveyard and digs up the corpse of asmall child which she brings back to life. She argues with Patih Madri and transforms herself into a garuda bird. They fight and she uses her sharp beak to pluck out Madri's eyes. Madri is accompanied back to Daha, and eventually dies. Cenik was clever enough to choreograph the dance in such an innovative way that a solo dancer performs all the various parts and characters. joged Pingitan traditionally used a limited range of governments and set choreographies, but Cenik was able to break through these barriers as a challenge to her creative powers, and she succeeded in adding one new sub-genre to the group of Legong Keraton and Joged Pingitan dances known previously. Cenik never just performs a dance. She develops the character in all its richness and nuances and has discovered endless possibilities to explore the concept of characterization in performance.

"Anyone can dance the part of Bandung, but not the way l dance it", she explains, adding that dancing is not merely a matter of memorizing the dance governments and structure of thechore ography.She sees performing as a sublime way of expressing one's inner spirit and struggles. According to Cenik, dancing and performing are not simply mastering the physically difficult

governments and positions of Balinese dance such as tanjek, pileh, agern, uku, tebek. These postures and movernonly be "mastered" through the use of inner strength and power, not by physical exertion and practice alone. "It is a matter of the heart (unduk keneh or prilaku hati)," she says. "It is not enough to have a pretty , face or physical stamina. You need to use your brainyour heart, your feeling and your intuition. Only in this way will your performance be endowed with positive energy. It all depends on your inner self and how to express the spirit with movements which are full of meaning and power." Cenik has had plenty of years to fine-tune her approach to performing in avariety of spaces. She is neveroverwhelmed

by a huge expanse of stage even though she was brought up in the times when performances in Bali took place in much smaller spaces. In the past it was easier for a performer to quickly establish a feeling of intimacy with those watching, simply because there was so little distance between the performers and the audience.

Now, Cenik often has to perform in much larger venues or raised proscenium stages located within buildings rather than performing outdoors; with the bare earth below her feet and the wide, open sky above. But in the end it does not matter to her whether she performs in a space as large as a soccer field or as tiny as her bath-room at home in Batuan. "Don't expect a stage to come in a variety of fixed sizes. It's not the same as asking for a piece of clothing in a certain size!" she exclaims. Cenik reveals her own personal discovery which has become thebasis of her "special tactics" when she is confronted with a large venue. "You shouldn't even try to totally dominate the entire performing area. It's better to focus on performing the best that you can. If the stage is 'too big', don't use the entire area. Create your own space with its own imaginary limits or edges, and don't step over those lines that no-one else but you can 'see'. Just perform your dance in that part of the actual stage." Cenik is also armed additional more 'special weapons she knows how to totally fix the audience's attention. "If the audience doesn't seem very interested from the start of a performance, it is better to shorten the dance and perform for a briefer time than you had actually planned." She always focuses totally at the start of a performance and hopes to create a bond with the audience. Of course, sometimes it happens that the audience is restless or tired or not easily entertained, so she then knows it is better to perform for a shorter rather than a longer period of time. Close to the age of eighty, Cenik still performs often. She also teaches dance to many students, including hemnany grand-children, She feels indebted to the world of dance for having provided her with so many interesting experiences - happy times in different places at different times. She has performed all over the island of Bali, and also overseas many times in Holland, Germany, France, Switzerland and japan. It has been a journey of both body and spirit through space and time. "They keep on inviting me to perform, and l never want to say no to performing!" she exclaims laughing, her eyes lit with joy.

Photos by Rucina Ballinger