SUNDANESE DANCE
Like
Javanese dancing, Sundanese dancing has also passed through tile
following periods of development explained in previous chapters,
viz.: the Period of Primitive Society, Feudal Society, and Modern
Society.
(music),
puppet play and dancing. There tire two kinds of dances in West
Java which show the definite influence of Central Java, the masked
dance-drama and the bedaya.
During the 16th century, leading figures in the spread of islam
in Cirebon, Sunan Gunung Jati and Sunan Kalijaga, used the gamelan,
wayang (puppet play) and dance performances to assemble the people,
in their efforts to convert them into Islam. This shows that the
people in Cirebon (West Java) had been food of aft, including dancing
before the Islamic period. They flocked to the gamelan, wayang,
and dance performances, and the leaders of Islam used this opportunity
to spread their religion among the people.
From
the gamelan instruments used by Sunan Kalijaga to accompany the
wayang and dance performances, it would appear that dancnig in Cirebon
in the 16th century must have already reached an advanced stage,
These gamelans, which tip to now have been kept in the palaces of
Cirebon, Kasepuhan and Kanoman, are called Gamelan Sekati, Gamelan
Kodok Ngorek, Gamelan Gala Ganjur and Gamelan Degung. These gamelans
were already orchestras but not as complete as the present Sundanese
gamelan.
The
function of art (gamelan, wayang and dancing) in West Java in the
16th century was as a means of propaganda, a means of attracting
the public to be converted to Islam, and for this reason it was
well cultivated.
Consquently,
during the Islamic period dancing in Cirebon was already democratic
in nature, in the sense that it could be enjoyed by the people of
all classes of society, by that of the nobility as well as of the
lower classes, in accordance with the democratic nature of Islam.
Nevertheless, because of the feudal social structure, the places
where dances developed most favourably during the Islamic period
were still the mansions of the high nobility and the royal palaces.
But the common people were now able to enjoy dancing as well.
When the centre of the Islamic kingdom moved from East Java to the
middle of Central Java with the setting up of the kingdom of Mataram,
contact between Central Java and West Java, especially in the field
of culture, continued, from the beginning of' the 17th century up
to the present. It is therefore not surprising that the development
of dancing in West Java has been greatly influenced by Javanese
dance styles. Conversely, since 1950 many choreographers in Central
Java have taken elements of Sundanese dancing for their modern dance
compositions.
In their further development, the dances of West Java have developed
a style of their own, known as the Sunda style. Although Sundanese
dancing in its historical development was influenced by Javanese
style dancing, it developed its own distinctive character in the
gay and cheerful environment of Sundanese society. Sundanese dancing
is then different in nature from Javanese dancing. Reflecting the
spirit of West Javanese society, it is gay, energetic and dynamic.
One of the instruments of the accompanying Sundanese gamelan the
kendang or drum, is eminently suited to this dynamic spirit.
It
has been explained that the development of dancing in West Java
was influenced by Javanese style dances, chiefly the dance-drama
and the bedaya.
THE
MASKED DANCE-DRAMA
The
Masked dance-drama was called raket in the court of Banten in West
Java, in Cirebon was wayang wong or wayang orang.
The term raket had already appeared in the period of Majapahit.
It was found in the book Nagarakertagama of the 14th century and
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