Dance Summary
The
Kanoman court-bedaya different from the Surakarta and Yogyakarta
bedaya. Dr, Buddingh says further that the bedaya in the palace
of Kanoman was also called sinding, which comes from the word sinden,
a Javanese word, meaning "to sing". Bedaya in the Kanoman
palace in Cirebon was also called sinding because the bedaya dancers
sang as they danced.
The
number of the bedaya dancers was not fixed, This century the Kanoman
court-bedaya is usually danced by six women, The author was told
by ex. Sultan Kanoman X on a visit in 102, that the number of six
dancers has been suited to the Rukun Iman (Six Pillars of Belief)
of Islam. Consequently, the stories presented are the Menak stories
from the lslamic period.
Among
the two kingdoms in West Java, Banten and Cirebon, it was Cirebon
which succeeded in cultivating dancing, which not Surprising since
Banten collapsed much earlier. Cirebon was then split tip into three
small kingdoms: Kesepuhan, Kanoman and Kacerbonan, the first two
having political power.
Up
to the beginning of the 19th century, it was the kingdom of Cirebon
where dancing was cultivated and developed. Sundanese dances even
took their Sources from the dances of the palaces of Cirebon.
During
the English invasion (1811-1816) the Sultans (kings) of Cirebon
were dethroned, and the)- retained only the rights of regents. This
situation, begun under the English colonial domination, was maintained
by the Dutch when they regained their colonial power over Java.
Politically, the kingdoms of Cirebon were directly tinder Dutch
colonial rule since the beginning of the 19th century. Nevertheless,
dancing developed favourably.
Besides the court-dances described above, there are also the dances
of the common people.
PEOPLE'S
DANCES
Among
the dances of the common people that were popular before the independence
were the topeng babakan, the kuda lumping the angklung dance, the
segeng dance, the beksan, the ronggeng lais or sintren, the ketuk
tilu and the ibing penca.
TOPENG
BABAKAN
The
topeng babakan, as explained above was a simple masked dance-drama
on small scale. danced by a woman called -ronggeng, and one man
or two men. The story presented was a Panji story or the story of
Damarwulan. The topeng babakan is entertainment for the people held
in the streets or markets for payments. Because the performers were
paid, it is not surprising that during the feudal period undesirable
things often took place for example the spectators frequently behaved
indecently towards the woman dancers or ronggengs. Because of this,the
term ronggeng is an unfavourable term in Sundanese society.
THE
KUDA LUMPING DANCE
Kuda
Lumping is a very popular west Javanese dance. It is danced by four
or eight pairs of men who pretend to ride on imitation horses made
of woven bamboo. It is a remnant of old dances that were ecstatic
and warlike in nature. In Cirebon the dance is called kuda lumping
and the music accompanying it is the gamelan. In Bandung it is called
kuda kepang and is accompanied by bamboo angklung instruments. There
is also kuda lumping in Bandung accompanied by the terbang (tambourine),
kendang (drum) and trumpet.
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