Barong Dance in Bali

I went to Bali. Yep, that place Julia Roberts went to find herself. I didn't run into her, if you were wondering.

Even so, I saw some pretty awesome stuff. One of them was a Barong Dance performed at the Kloncing Temple in Ubud. Generally I am not a fan of dances, but this one was cool. I want to share it with you. Thus this post.

If you don't like Barong Dances or awesomeness, please stop reading. For the rest of you, read on:

This is a Barong -
I think it is supposed to be a little bit like a big dog, but cooler. In the dance it is a force for good, despite its bug-eyes.

The show begins like this:
The priest blesses the musicians who will be playing for the entire evening. Then the music begins.

First the Kurowa brothers (2 of them) make a pact with the goddess Durga to bring destruction upon the kingdom. This is the elder Kurowa brother. His voice is grating. Plus he is willingly covenanting with an evil Goddess. Not a pleasant individual.
Durga obliges them. She sends the Sisya (4 women dancers) onto the stage, apparently disturbing some family ritual of the Prime Minister. Here is a Sisya - she's got creepy eyes.
The Sisya and the demons that follow them bring madness upon the family and they tie up Sahadewa (the hero) and beat him. Here is the Prime Minister as he enters a fit of rage.
While Sahadewa (the hero) is unconscious a High Priest visits and blesses him so that Durga cannot kill him as he is incapacitated. Shortly thereafter Durga arrives with her demon minions, intent on slaying our hero and eating his flesh.

In this photo you can see Durga coming through the portal. Sahadewa is tied up on the right. Demons lie in wait on the left.
Durga brandishes a rather nasty knife but is sorely disappointed when she can't kill Sahadewa. As we all would be, I am sure.
At that point, though, Durga realizes that Sahadewa is protected by a blessing from Siwa. She then petitions Sahadewa to release her from her physical prison so that she can be reunited with Siwa in the afterlife. Sahadewa agrees. This, unfortunately, upsets Durga's followers. Primary among these is Kalika, who is now left with the responsibility of guarding the graveyard and the king of the demons. Kalika begs Sahadewa to release him as well, but Sahadewa refuses as this would unbalance the cosmos.
In a fit of rage Kalika attacks Sahadewa.
This creates chaos, and Kalika becomes an incarnation of Durga. In response Sahadewa becomes the barong, which is an incarnation of Siwa.
By becoming a barong, Sahadewa has returned balance to the cosmos.

The dance then completes as Keris Dancers enter the stage and attack Durga.
The last little bit was fuzzy - I believe they committed ritual suicide after their attack on Durga. In the end, though, the universe was restored to balance.

And I suppose all's well that ends well, right?

Anyways, if you are in Ubud, Bali on a Tuesday evening, I recommend the show.