Kecak

The Kecak, also Ketjak, Ketjack or Ketiak, is a Balinese dance drama in which 50 to 100 male, with a black and white checked loincloths dancers are used, list the the epic Ramayana.

They are sitting or standing in a circle and embody the mythological monkey army, the volunteers of Prince Rama. With varying tempo and volume they call " Kecak Kecak Cak Cak -a- " while performing with arms and hands evocative movements. Accompanied by vocals become even other figures in the circle of dancers such as Rama, his wife Sita, the monkey general Hanuman, the eagle Garuda and multifarious gods as an opponent of the demon king Ravana.

History

The Kecak has roots in ancient Balinese trance dance Sanghyang. In its present form the Kecak has only existed since about 1930. The idea for the Kecak originated by the German painter Walter Spies. Today, the Kecak is a popular tourist attraction, which is often combined with other dances. The rock temple of Ulu Watu and the Pura Dalem in Ubud are regarded as places to experience the Kecak in a very intense atmosphere.

Entrance into modernity

In Ron Fricke film Baraka a Kecak performance is seen. Federico Fellini used in his Satyricon for scoring the Kecak chant. The same applies to the films of the Coen brothers, in which he served for eerie accompaniment of violent scenes.

The Japanese video game music composer Hiroki Kikuta used the rhythm of the Kecak for the song "The Oracle " in the video game Secret of Mana, which was released in 1993 for the SNES.

The group Mr. Bungle built in one of her songs, a song of the Kecak dance and transformed it into a kind of " hard rock " version to. The part of the Balinese song starts at about 2'40 minutes in the song " Goodbye Sober Day".

The German electronic dance music lineup RMB used the chant of the Kecak in the track " Chakka Chakka " on their album " This World is yours".

Kitaro used in the track Magical Wave (Album Dream, 1992) a Kecak recording, as well as Mike Oldfield in the Tracks The Wind Chimes ( Iceland, 1987) and Bones ( To France 12, 1984).