Indonesian Dance Traditions Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Sultan appointed his brothers as teachers in a school of dance.

Prior to this time, knowledge of the dances had been restricted to the royal courts. The school was established so that any child of a good family could have a chance at learning the dances.

Answer: Utdets are worn by women, and sampours by men.

The terms 'utdet' and 'sampour' are different words to refer to the same garment, depending on the gender of the person wearing it - the scarves themselves are the same. These scarves are used in classical Javanese dance as very important decorative features, extending the lines of the movement and allowing certain effects that would otherwise be impossible to achieve.

Answer: Surakarta and Jogjarkarta are regions of the kingdom.

In 1755, Dutch explorers divided the kingdom into these two smaller kingdoms. The styles that evolved retain the mark of origin.

Answer: It is unusually sensuous.

The dancer, one of a group of young girls, uses her posture and hips in a suggestive way not seen in other traditional Balinese dances. A member of the audience joins the performer (thus, the 'social' title) and they dance a sex scene. I find it interesting that in a generally chaste art form, it is the young female dancers who are the only ones expected to perform in an erotic context.

Answer: silk fan

In the Balinese tradition, props are used very little, but silk fans are employed in the dances. Some other Indonesian traditions make more liberal use of props. Javanese dance, for example, sometimes incorporates swords and pistols and other props.

Answer: The dancer strips and shreds his clothing.

The dancer supposedly enters a psychic trance which allows the ember feat, but with tourist interest the dances have become more commercially geared. The success of a 'sang hyang jaran' dancer now lies less in his ability to enter the trance state than in the calluses he's developed on his feet during rice-farming.

Answer: The men dance with tambourines.

The tambourine was brought to the region by Islamic invaders who used them to accompany their ritual praises to Allah.

Answer: The Bissu are inhabited by spirits during the dancing.

The Bissu usually enter a trance state, sometimes demonstrating the power of said state by taking swords and pushing them into their bodies. The swords do not puncture the flesh, thus proving the realism of the spirit possession. Interestingly, the Bissu are one of five recognized genders in the region: men, women, men who live as women, women who live as men, and Bissu - supposedly a combination of both man and woman. Bissu are often chosen because they are born as hermaphrodites or display other variations on the conventional sex organs. Traditionally, Bissu would be castrated in adulthood once their status was assumed, but this practice has become rarer.

Answer: A 'topeng' is a masked dance.

Masks play an important role in many Indonesian dance forms. The performers usually accumulate many masks over the years, and develop a certain relationship to each of them. Every mask portrays a particular character individual to that mask.

Answer: The gamelan is the musical accompaniment used for dance.

Gamelan performances almost always accompany dance performances in this region. The music is rich and varied, and often the dancers relate to each instrument differently with their movement.