The Dance of the Eyes (c.1940)
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The leading dancer in the center is actually a boy named I Wayan Rindi, who went on to be one of the great master teachers of kebyar dance styles. The dance form is not actually called "the dance of the eyes" but is in fact called légong, almost always danced by girls except for rare exceptions like Rindi. The other two dancers are Ni Wayan Sadri and Ni Cawan and the three dancers, in the 1930s when this was filmed, were refereed to as "légong Kelandis," because they often performed with the gamelan orchestra in the village of Kelandis. Their teacher was the dance and music master I Nyoman Kaler. This film is a lovely and valuable document of a legendary trio of Balinese dancers. With many thanks, Edward Herbst
#1 from edwardherbst – 12 years, 2 months ago.
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In addition, légong is a dance genre still frequently performed in Bali as it was since the 1920s (not at all a rare form). The middle dancer, condong, was a 20th-century addition. The gamelan music for this film excerpt is not music for légong, but rather an early 20th century composition called Longgor played (and composed) by the gamelan Gong Kebyar from the village Pangkung in the district Tabanan. For more on the music of Pangkung you can freely download an article from http://www.arbiterrecords.com/catalogworld.html
#2 from edwardherbst – 12 years, 2 months ago.
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