(Legong Dance) History, Development, Meaning, and Accompanying Musical Instruments

Bali is not only known for its natural beauty, but is also known for its rich, exotic culture. 

Call it the Legong Dance , a traditional Balinese dance. This dance reflects the grace, beauty, and shrewdness of the dancers. Legong dance is a classical Balinese dance that has a very complex vocabulary of movements and is tied to the accompanying music. 

The word legong comes from the word "leg", meaning a dance movement that is flexible or flexible. while "gong" means gamelan. Thus, "legong" means "dance movement with gamelan as an accompaniment. The gamelan used to accompany the Legong dance is called the Semar Pagulingan Gamelan. The Legong dance is usually performed by two girls who have not menstruated. This dance is performed under the light of the full moon in the palace courtyard. The two dancers are called legong. 

The dancers are usually equipped with a fan as a tool. In some Legong dances, there is an additional dancer who does not use a fan. This dancer is called a condong.

According to Babad Dalem Sukawati, the Legong dance was inspired by I Dewa Agung MadeKarna, King of Sukawati from 1775 to 1825 AD. While doing penance at Jogan Agung Temple, Ketewel Village, Sukawati Region, he dreamt of seeing an angel dancing in heaven. They danced with headdresses made of gold. When he woke up from his meditation, he immediately ordered BendesaKetewel to make several masks with the faces that appeared in his dream. He also ordered them to make a dance similar to his dream. Then BendesaKetewel completed nine sacred masks, according to the request of I DewaAgung Made Karna. The Sang Hyang Legong dance performance was also staged at PuraJogan Agung by two female dancers. Shortly after the Sang Hyang Legong Dance was created, a Nandir dance performance group from Blahbatuh, led by I Gusti Ngurah Jelantik,performed a performance witnessed by King I Dewa Agung Manggis, the King of Gianyar at that time.

He is very interested in this dance, which has a style similar to the Sang
Hyang Legong Dance. Then he ordered two artists from Sukawati to rearrange the dance with two women as dancers. 
Since then, the classical Legong dance has been created, which can be seen today. 
Initially, this dance was staged with the purpose of entertaining the kings and ancestors who came down from heaven, including the spirits of previous kings.

Along with its development, the Legong dance began to develop in Peliatan Village, an arts village in Ubud, Gianyar Regency. 

The Legong dance , which was often performed to entertain the king and his family, is now often performed in tourist shows. 
This dance has its own charm and is favored by foreign tourists and the archipelago. Now, the Legong dance is the prima donna of various types of Balinese dances, and is one of the most unique in the repertoire of Indonesian traditional dances.
The Legong dance is the result of a combination of several values held by the Balinese people, namely religious and historical values in Balinese culture. The dance movements are very representative of the expression of gratitude and gratitude of the Balinese people towards the ancestors who gave abundant blessings to their descendants.

 
Currently, the Legong dance has been transformed into an entertainment dance that is staged to welcome guests, thus becoming a tourist attraction. Initially, the Legong dance was accompanied by Gamelan Pelegongan. This gamelan set consists of two pairs of gender vines, gangsa squat, a gong, kemong, kempluk, klenang, a pair of krumpungan drums, flute, fiddle, jublag, jegog, and gentorang. 
In addition, there is an interpreter to emphasize the character as well as an astoric narrator through songs. However, along with the popularity of gamelan gong kebyar in Bali, finally, Legong dance can be accompanied by gamelan gong kebyar because of the level of flexibility.