Monday, November 30, 2015

1 Dec: WHAT NATURE CAN DELIVER, versus our endeaVors: These exquisite sunrises are starting to wear me down, especially after the spectacular night i had at a small temple in Denpasar.

THE GANDRUNG SACRAL show at the pura majapahit in monang maning last night blew my tits off. In the temple's forecourt, a small area had been cordoned off — and festooned with woven palm-leaf paku pipit hangers-down and other decorations — and a polychromatically-painted angklung gamelan was playing frantically along the southern edge. Inside the temple the butch bapang (om mama.....they were sweating pure testosterone) in tigerskin waistbands znd bells on their toes were getting into gear as five pretty gandrung (flirty girl dance) including two young boys were slapping on the stage make-up. The red brick architecture and colourful statuary were classic 16th century Majapahit style. Two sacred GELUNG crowns sat on cushions at the feat of the mighty rangda in their shrine. The barong went out through the exquisite gate which connected the courts and then one by one, in turns, the gandrung who wove around the stage like sacred sirens . One by one and sometimes in frenzied groups People joined in the joged-style dance, always with great prowess and classical style and all ending in a nose dive or laid bank trance, after whhich they were carried back — flailing and screaming — thru the gate into the temple. Occasionally people came charging out again and challenged the entrancing gandrung. Gosh it was great theatre. I sat in front of the gamelan , gob-smacked all night. Somehow the dancing and the attitudes all felt very javanese (gandrung originated in java.... A gandrung festival was held on bom beach in banyuwangi recently) and i felt transported back to the Majapahit era, like a tripped out nusantaranista.




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