Barong Dance

Batubulan Village, Bali

Batubulan Village is about 6 km NE of Denpasar. In this photo, the gamelan plays their musical prelude to the dance. This is a tourist venue, that offers a performance, rather than an enactment¹, of the Balinese version of the eternal battle between Good (the lion-like Barong) and Evil (the witch Rangda).

¹Performers, like actors on a stage or in the movies, represent their characters to an audience. Enactors perform only for themselves, like dancers in a nightclub. Enactment is the authentic experience, that is often sought, but seldom found, by culturally-aware tourists.