Butterfly Dance, Traditional Dance From Bali
Butterfly dance is one of the traditional dances originating from Bali. According to the Balinese dance historical record, this butterfly dance was created by I Wayan Beratha in 1960. I Wayan Beratha is a Balinese Dance artist born in 1926, in Banjar Belaluan Denpasar. He currently resides in Banjar Abian Kapas Kaja. I Wayan Beratha is living and big in the family environment of Balinese artists. His grandfather, I Ketut Keneng (1841-1926) was also a great Balinese artist of his time.
His grandfather was a gamelan musician and also pagambuhan. Because of the greatness of his name and his work, most of his life was dedicated to the family of Puri Denpasar, as a favorite artist from King I Gusti Agung Ngurah Denpasar until the Puputan Badung War erupted in 1906. So deserve the great artist's blood then flowed in I Wayan Beratha and created a work - great for the people of the island of Bali and Indonesia.
Butterfly dance is a kind of female group dance that is played by 5 women or more. This dance describes a blue butterfly animal or a flying tarum and perched from one flower to another.
Philosophically, this butterfly dance is a depiction of beauty, peace, and also the exotic island of Bali. The graceful movement and dynamic and charming motion composition make the butterfly dance slightly different from the nuances created by other Balinese dances, making it more peaceful to feel at the time of watching it.
The blend of costume colors between dark and bright fabrics like golden, blue, and dark green and glittering crowns with golden knickknacks, illustrates beauty in contrasting differences. As in the beauty of nature, the variety of artwork, social conditions, culture and beliefs of Balinese society are united in the harmony of motion. The music accompaniment also uses Balinese gamelan, there is a harmony of tone with soft bar. Not stomping like a Kecak dance.
The meaning of the butterfly dance above is a reflection of Beratha's very open-minded way of thinking, he seeks to discard regional fanaticism despite not entirely abandoning the peculiarities of Balinese culture. In terms of karawitan art, from 1957 to 1959, he began to tap the blending of gambelan colors that penetrated deeply into regional patterns. These patterns are thought to be due to a competition in the days of kings that lasted until the colonial era. So he ventured to study the North Balinese karawitan and taught the karawitan of South Bali throughout Bali. Then along with I Cede Manik, I Wayan Beratha became the bridge between the style of art of karawitan Bali South and North which is certainly reflected from every dance he created.
What I Wayan Beratha does with Balinese culture is not an attempt to destroy tradition or destroy the traditional artistic merit, but just a novelty that traditional art in Bali can find its world in tandem with the development of the times.
