What is the style of Javanese dance?

The earliest Javanese believed in the existence of spirits, and most of the dances at that time were based on the simple imitation of animal forms. Buddhist legends in Indonesia are highly respected, so many dances are based on myths and legends, and focus on the emotions of the characters. Javanese classical court dance is even more unique, it mainly comes from the court, usually the storyline throughout, with lyrics, dance to tell the history of the classic love stories and myths and legends, known as the classical court dance. The dancers mainly use swords, masks and mimicry to perform. The classical court dance of Java is divided into different schools according to the different regions, such as the classical dance of West Java is dominated by a school of Sundanese, while the classical dance of Central Java has two schools of Yogyakarta and Solo. However, all the genres have one **** in common, that is, they are mainly performed at important ceremonies.

Javanese classical court dance movement form: both legs remain half-squatting, the body can not be bent forward and backward, the head should be kept upright, the line of sight has been in the slanting down, only in a particular scene can be eye with the hand movement. Like Thai classical dance, Javanese classical dance is rich in hand gestures, each of which has an agreed-upon meaning, and the emotions of the dance are expressed through different changes of hand gestures.

Most of the historical information is no longer available, but we can also capture some of the unique and fascinating Javanese classical dances from the art of carving in Indonesia. Wood carving is one of Bali's specialties, and the Poplar Dancer Statue is a classic in the art of wood carving. The carver chose the most beautiful moment in the dancer's dance posture: the dancer's bright eyes look forward to the light, long and full limbs, soft body curves, the head is just right to lean on the side of the left arm above the head, full of movement of the ribbon and the arms echo, conveying a sense of stretching the right degree of proportion, the waist, hips, almost perfect side curved. A close look at the sculpture seems to transport the viewer back to the moment when the music started, and the swaying dance has been projected in the mind over and over again, with all the body language echoing the heartbeat, dripping with the suppleness of oriental femininity.

When it comes to the stylistic characteristics of the Javanese entrainment dance, from the data records, each Javanese community in Indonesia has a different local interpretation of this entrainment dance, so each region derives its own local characteristics and develops a variety of forms of entrainment dance, which are named differently depending on the region and language, but there is no exact record of the origin of the dance so far. From a cultural point of view, culture is bound to undergo certain changes in social changes. Whether it is religious beliefs or ideologies, the conflict between cultures will have new concepts in the long process of intermingling. The performers of the Entrance Dance are Muslims, and thus the Muslim culture is naturally integrated into the Islamic ideology. At the same time, they are trying to preserve the originality and orthodoxy of the dance of initiation.

The reason for the representativeness of the initiation dances is naturally the characteristics of the music style. Music plays a powerful role in the dance, not only can instantly attract the audience's attention, quickly bring the audience into the mood of the dance performance, but also an indispensable "right-hand man" for the dancers, only with the music of the dance, the performance is more ceremonial, and the dancers can be better and more standardized for the formation and the rhythm of the movement. The dancers will be able to change the formation and rhythm of their movements in a better and more standardized way. With the development of Shinshen dance, it is not a long-term survival plan to pass on the tradition, and as the dancers gain more experience in performing, the form of the dance will continue to innovate and change. During the performance, the music style is also constantly changing, with styles ranging from Javanese mash-ups, popular street music, and traditional folk songs. Islamic songs are also used from time to time to accompany the performances, showing its efforts to integrate into the predominantly Muslim community.

In general, kendang drums, hanging gongs, brass panpipes, breast gongs, western jazz drums, and electronic keyboards are commonly used for entrancing dances. They are mainly percussion-based, consisting of simple melodies that are repeated or varied, and the rhythms are generally named according to the movement and style of the dance. Various rhythmic patterns are used to accompany the vocal parts in a cyclical manner and as background music for the dance movements.

The kendang is used as the backbone of the musical performance, not only controlling the tempo of the rhythms, but also changing to match the dancers' movements, and is extremely important in all aspects of the ceremony, creating a strange and sacred atmosphere for the ceremony. During the performance, the repetitive rhythms of the Kendang drums give the dancers a feeling of drowsiness, and this hypnotic effect can better enable the dancers to enter into a state of spiritual enlightenment. For the audience, the changing rhythms of the kendang drums also stimulate different emotional shifts at each stage of the ceremony. The Kendang drums link each part of the ceremony together and make the whole ceremony come together. The Kendang drum's spirituality lies in the fact that the music does not end until the ceremony is over, and it masters the entire atmosphere of the ceremony, the rhythm of the dance, the dancers' pace and mood, and also inspires curiosity and awe in the audience.