Title ..........Kecak
Genre ..........Gamelan Bali
Label ..........Lord record
Kecak (pronunciation: / 'ke.tʃak /, roughly "Keh-chahk", alternate spelling: Ketjak, Ketjack, and armpits), is a typical Balinese performing arts that was created in the 1930s and played mainly by men. This dance is performed by many (tens or more) male dancers who sat lined up in a circle and with a certain rhythm called "cak" and raised both arms, depicts the story of Ramayana when Rama's line of apes help fight Ravana. However, Kecak sanghyang comes from the ritual, namely the tradition of dancing the dancers will be in a condition not realized, to communicate with God or the spirits of the ancestors and then convey its expectations to the public.
The dancers in the circle is wearing a plaid cloth like a chessboard their waist. Besides the dancers, there are also other dancers who portray the characters of Ramayana as Rama, Shinta, Ravana, Hanuman, and Sugriwa.
Kecak dance songs taken from the ritual dances sanghyang. Also, do not use musical instruments. Only used kincringan worn on the feet of dancers who portray the characters of Ramayana.
Around the 1930's Wayan Limbak worked with German painter Walter Spies to create the Kecak dance based ontradition Sanghyang and parts of the story of Ramayana . Wayan Limbak popularizing this dance while traveling the world with his troupe of Balinese dancers.