The Bedhaya court dances of Central Java / / by Clara Brakel-Papenhuijzen.

• VerfasserIn: Brakel-Papenhuijzen, Clara.,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, New York ;, Köln : : Brill,, 1992.
• Year of Publication: 1992
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xvi, 349 pages)

The ritual bedhaya dances of the Central Javanese courts form a highly valued expression of Javanese culture. These stately dance forms, comprising complex choreographies executed to the accompaniment of archaic songs and gamelan music, are part of the cultural tradition of the Mataram dynasty. They have been preserved in the two main court centres of Central Java: Surakarta and Yogyakarta. The contents of the book range from a relatively general introduction to a detailed analysis of structural, formal features of the dances. Included are theories on the origin, social context and esoteric meaning, as well as 19th and 20th century scores of performances. The two main components of the art form, choral singing and group dancing, have each been discussed in a separate chapter. A number of song texts and choreographies, transcribed from palace manuscripts, are published for the first time. These songs represent an archaic singing style, which holds important information on the development of Javanese vocal and instrumental music. An analysis of bedhaya choreographies which are seldom performed nowadays may serve to prevent the impending disappearance of this beautiful and stylized art form. The choreographic discussion has been visualized on a 60 minute video-tape, produced from research material which was filmed between 1983-1985. This video-tape may be ordered from the author.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- List of Illustrations -- I. Introduction -- II. Bedhaya and srimpi dances at the courts of Surakarta and Yogyakarta in 1982 -- III. Javanese written sources on origin and performance of bedhaya dancing -- 1. Origin stories of the Surakarta court tradition -- 2. The mainstream divided -- 3. Imitation and variation: the composition of bedhaya dances during the 19th and 20th centuries -- IV. Songs for bedhaya dances -- 1. Song texts in performance -- 2. Pesindhèn bedhaya singing style -- 3. Poetic features, themes and meaning of pesindhèn bedhaya -- V. Structural analysis of bedhaya choreography -- 1. Arrangement in space -- 2. Temporal aspects of bedhaya choreography -- 3. Historical development of bedhaya choreography: the process of mutrani -- VI. Javanese scores of bedhaya dances -- 1. Bedhaya scores in the kraton of Yogyakarta -- 2. Dance notation in the Mangku Negaran -- 3. Dance scores of Surakarta bedhaya compositions -- Concluding remarks -- Appendix -- Bibliography -- Glossary and Index of Javanese terms and authors' names -- Illustrations.