Gabor Dance Bali - A Graceful Offering Dance of Bali

Gabor Dance is one of the traditional Balinese dances created in 1969, by the dance artist I Gusti Gede Raka. He is a well-known Legong teacher from Saba Village in Gianyar, Bali. This dance is part of a Calonarang performance performed by ASTI as a "tari lepas", in 1969.

The dance is a variation of the Pendet Dance and in Balinese performing arts is included in the "tari kreasi" category. This is a secular dance or Balih-balihan dance to welcome the guest or tourists. The dance movements were adopted from traditional Rejang Dance, a sacred dance devoted to ceremonies/rituals.

Gabor Dance is performed by female dancers, consisting of 4-6 dancers or more. Each dancer brings a dance property, an offering bowl or "bokor" (in Balinese) which contains burning incense, full of fragrant flower petals, and adorned with "sampian" or coconut leaves ornament.

The dancers enter the stage, create a formation and perform dance moves simultaneously. They dance in pairs with gentle and dynamic movements. Then the girls sit on their knees, holding the bokor with their left hand, while the right hand wafting the smoke toward the heavens.

Entering the final part of the performance, the dancer will take the colorful petals, toss them up towards the audience as a symbol of blessing and welcome the guests.

This graceful feminine offering dance is accompanied by traditional Balinese gamelan, called Gegaboran or Tabuh Gegaboran. This traditional dance blends harmoniously with gamelan music and fragrant incense. This creates a charming atmosphere for the audience.

Dancers wear rather minimalist costumes but have a beautiful blend of colors. With a little make-up, the dancers performed so gracefully.

The dancer's hair is arranged in such a way, completed with imitation hair and some flower decorations, such as: gonjer flower, clover flower and fresh flower. A beautiful pair of "subeng" adorned the ear.

In the middle, the yellow belt (sabuk prada) covers the stomach and also wears a shawl (selendang prada). While at the bottom of the dancer wearing a tapih cloth and covered again with a layer of red cloth with a golden colored motif.

Reference

1. google.co.id
2. wikipedia.org _ Balinese Dance _ on July 5, 2019
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balinese_dance
3. Dibia, I Wayan; Ballinger, Rucina (2012). "Balinese Dance, Drama & Music: A Guide to the Performing Arts of Bali". Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 1462908675, 9781462908677. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
4. Tenzer, Michael (2013). "Balinese Gamelan Music: (Downloadable Audio Included)". Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 1462908705, 9781462908707. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
5. Image : Original Collection

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