The types of barong in Bali are very diverse with different looks and functions, and not just any dancer is performed because it takes enough practice to be able to perform this barong dance professionally. The types of barong found in Bali are Barong Ket, Barong Bangkal, Barong Landung, Barong Macan, Barong Gajah, Barong Asu, Barong Brutuk, Barong Lembu, Barong Kedingkling, Barong Kambing and Barong Gagombrangan. The types of barong take the form of animals such as elephants, dogs, goats, oxen and others with four legs. Where the barong is performed by two people, one person holds the head and one person holds the tail, if you have ever seen the Barong Sai dance from China, then the barong dance in Bali is somewhat similar to that, the only difference is that Balinese dance is performed with a typical dance technique. Bali is more prominent without doing attractions like those in barong sai. The type of barong that we often see in Barong and Keris Dance is the type of Barong Ketket. This show is performed by dancers who have been trained and performed very well with a comedy spice, making the audience of this barong dance happy and carried away by the storyline that was delivered.

Barong Keket

Barong Ket or Barong keket which is played in this Barong and Keris Dance Performance, which takes the form of a combination of lion, tiger, cow and dragon that produces the barong face that you can see today, with a touch of traditional Balinese carvings that creates a mystical and mystical atmosphere. full of spiritual aura when he saw it. As a good character which in mythology is symbolized as Banaspati the king who is the king of all spirits. The mask of this barong keket does not arbitrarily take wood to be used as a barong mask, but rather chooses certain trees such as the Pule tree that grows in the grave area because it is believed that the Pule tree is considered easy to invite demons. And if you take material from the grave, it is believed that it will bring a mystical aura inside this barong mask. In the barong keket dance performance, two people in the front, named Juru Saluk, hold the head and dance, and those in the tail, named Juru Bapang and dancers, must be in harmony so that they can create a very beautiful movement when seen . The feathers of this barong keket are made from perasok (leaf fiber of a type of pandanus and palm fiber), and some replace the feathers with crow feathers. Barong keket as a mythological creature from the island of Bali who is good at protecting the island of Bali from all threats of negative things

Rangda

Rangda is a mythological creature from Bali which has an evil character which is told with a frightening appearance and often kidnaps and eats small children and is considered to be the embodiment of Goddess Durga. The name Rangda comes from the ancient Javanese language which means “widow” and in the past the name Widow was found in the Vaisya, Kshatriya and Brahmin castes, while from the lower caste, the Sudra caste, it was not called the Widow but by the name Balu. So it can be concluded that Rangda came from a caste and most likely Rangda came from queen Mahendradatta who lived on the island of Java in the 11th century. He was exiled by the king of Dharmodayana because he was accused of committing witchcraft against the consort of the two kings. According to legend he took revenge by killing half the kingdom, which later became his and the property of Dharmodayana’s son, Erlangga. Then he was replaced by a wise man. The form of Rangda is manifested in a very scary form as a woman with long disheveled hair and has long nails, a long protruding tongue, and long breasts. His face was terrifying and had long, sharp fangs.

The barong and keris dances are traditional Balinese dances that depict the battle between Barong as a good character and Rangda as an evil character, which is often shown to tourists as one of the cultural attractions that always amazes us. At first the barong and keris dance was a dance in a religious ceremony known as Calonarang, which was performed only on the day the ceremony was held and also performed in various religious rituals. Over time, making this barong and keris dance begin to be performed as a cultural attraction, from the first stage the appreciation from tourists was very good, so many dance studios opened this barong dance performance in various strategic places, most of which you can see here at Batubulan area. A dance show that is very famous and is only performed in the morning. With a storyline that is narrated from the story of the barong and rangda battles taken from the Calonarang story, which used to be often staged when there were religious ceremonies. Barong and Kris dance like the Kecak Dance the Barong and Kris dance is a battle between good and evil spirits. Barong can take various forms but in this dance he takes the form of the dance Barong Keket, the most holy of the Barongs. The Barong Keket is a strange creature, half shaggy dog, half lion and is played by two men in much the same way as a circus clown-horse. His opponent is the witch Rangda.