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Dance Summary

...except tile youngest, who in the Javanese version is called Kleting Kuning. When the six of them have been carried over the river, only the youngest is left. She asks Kendit Birayung to help her cross the river, but he refuses.

In chapter I (Introduction) it wits stated that of the islands of Indonesia, Bali is the most favourable for the development of Indonesian dancing. The reason for the unique development of dancing in Bali lies in the fact that dancing plays a very important role in the religous and social life of the Balinese. Dancing is a very important aspect of the Hindu-Bali (HindU-Dharma) religion.

Since the Ist century Merchants from India had been actively trading with the Indonesian inhabitants of the archipelago. Some of them settled in Indonesia, and gradually intermarriage took place between them and the indigenous people of Indonesia.

If we compare the culture of the Indians who came to Indonesia in the first century with the culture of the indigenous people, the Indian culture was relatively higher. Indian culture exercised a great influence on Indonesian culture. This does not mean of course that the Indonesian became similar to the Indians. The original elements of Indonesian culture were preserved and only those element of Indian Culture taken ever which were suited to the identity of the Indonesian people. Consequently, the Indian cultural influence on Indonesia was an enrichment of Indonesian culture.

First evidence of Indian influence on Indonesia was the rise of the earliest Hindu-Indonesian kingdoms, such as the Kutei kingdom in East Kalimantan (about 400 A.D.) and the Tarumanegara kingdom in West Java (about 400 A.D.). Indian influence spread throughout Indonesia, and survived longest on the island of Bali.

In the social development of Bali the cultural influence of India is not felt as such because of the thorough acculturation.

In Indonesian history, the Hindu-Indonesian period is said by historians to have ended in the 15th century (or the beginning of the 16th century) with the fall of the kingdom of Majapahit, which was then replaced by Islamic kingdoms. But the Islamic culture coming to Indonesia did not bring about a radical change in the Hindu-Indonesian culture in spite of the difference in their religious teachings. The Islam coming to Indonesia had mostly been brought by merchants from Gujarat, where it had already been subjected to Indian influence. Besides, the Islam entering Indonesia did not impose itself on the Indonesian people, but penetrated by peaceful means. Later many Moslems from Arabia came to Indonesia, settling here and influencing the conversion of the people to Islam.

The statement of the historians that the Hindu-Indonesian period ended at the end of the 15th century or the beginning of the 16th century did not apply to Bali; for one thing, conversion to Islam was not so widespread and; for another, the Hindu-Bali spirit had already been firmly rooted in the cultural life of Balinese society.

Historians tell us that the Hindu-Indonesian culture entering
Bali came from Java in the 10th century, when there was a close relationship between Java and Bali. At that time a marriage took place between a Balinese king, Udayana and a princess of the kingdom of Kahuripan in East Java, Mahendradatta. From this
marriage was born a son called Erlangga, who later became king of Kahuripan (Mataram). After this event the close contact between Bali and Java resulted in a flow of Hindu- Javanese cultural influence