Do you want to see an authentic dance when you’re staying at the Samuh Hill Residence? Then Bali has a lot to offer. The dance is performed in various places including Uluwatu and Ubud. There are usually several performances during the evening.

‘’Tyak!’’

What’s the Kecak dance?

The Kecak, also known as the Monkey Dance, is the most famous Balinese dance in which Hanuman plays a major role. The dance is captivating, with a breathtaking intensity. From origin it was an incantation, an pantomimic choir dance for the poor to turn away from natural disasters and disease epidemics.

The Kecak group consists of men dressed in a black-and-white checkered loincloth with a naked torso and bare feet, the singing is very characteristic by the sound in different rhythms and tempo’s “tyak – tyak – tyak”. Only vocal sounds are used as music, where the group is in a circle and with hands and arms heaving motions. During this exhilarating Kecak, they are being pushed on like a storm, thrown against the grond to get back up and swayed from left to right.

It used to last until the dancers were completely exhausted. The enthusiastic choir that accompanied them, kept some going to the end. This dance finds its origin in a ritual dance in which the dancers go in a trance by singing and summoning Sanghyang. Once in a trance, the Sanghyang posesses the body of the dancer.