Lengger ( jv, ꧋ꦭꦺꦁꦒꦺꦂ) is a traditional

Javanese dance Javanese dance ( id, Tarian Jawa; jv, ꧋ꦠꦫꦶꦗꦮ) is the dances and art forms that were created and influenced by Javanese culture in Indonesia. Javanese dance movement is controlled, deliberate and refined. Javanese art often displays ...

originating from

Banyumas Banyumas ( jv, ꦧꦚꦸꦩꦱ꧀, formerly spelt "Banjoemas") Regency is a regency ( id, kabupaten) in the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Purwokerto, but that town no longer has a central a ...

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. This dance is played in pairs, between a man and a woman. Lengger dance is one of the

sacred dance Sacred dance is the use of dance in religious ceremonies and rituals, present in most religions throughout history and prehistory. Its connection with the human body and fertility has caused it to be forbidden by some religions; for example, some ...

s in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Etymology

''Lengger'' means 'male and female dancers' which comes from the ( jv, eling ngger). The meaning of Lengger is to give advice and messages to everyone to be able to invite and defend the truth and get rid of ugliness.

History

The Lengger dance began with a competition from the King Brawijaya of

Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...

who lost his daughter, Dewi Sekartaji. The king rewarded whoever managed to find his daughter, if the person who finds it is a man, he will be married to his daughter but if it is a woman, he will be appointed to the royal family. This competition was participated by many knights and finally only 2 participants left, namely Raden Panji Asmara Bangun disguised as Joko Kembang Kuning from the Janggala kingdom and Prabu Klana from the opposite kingdom. It was Prabu Klana that made the King's daughter run away because she was about to be paired with Prabu Klana, to win the competition, Joko Kembang Kuning goes on a quest disguised as a

topeng ''Topeng'' (from ban, ᬢᭀᬧᬾᬂ, su, ᮒᮧᮕᮨᮔᮌ, and jv, ꦠꦺꦴꦥꦺꦁ, topeng, mask) is a dramatic form of Indonesian dance in which one or more mask-wearing, ornately costumed performers interpret traditional narratives c ...

(masked) woman who dances from one area to another to lure the princess out of her hiding place. Joko Kembang Kuning's appearance attracted many crowds who saw his performance until finally the name of this dance was called Lengger which comes from 2 Javanese syllables, '' 'Ledek' '' which means male dancer and '' 'Geger' '' which means crowd. In the end, Dewi Sekar Taji emerged from hiding and finally Joko Kembang Kuning won the competition and married the princess. In their wedding, the bride and groom were treated to a performance of the Lengger dance. During the Islamic period, the popularity of the Lengger dance increased because it was used by

Sunan Kalijaga Sunan Kalijaga (1460-1513), born as Raden Mas Said son of a Duke of Tuban in East Java, Indonesia, was one of the "nine saints" of Javanese Islam (Wali Sanga). the "Kalijaga" title was derived from an orchard known as "Kalijaga" in Cirebon. O ...

, one of the

walisongo The Wali Songo (also transcribed as Wali Sanga) are revered saints of Islam in Indonesia, especially on the island of Java, because of their historic role in the spread of Islam in Indonesia. The word ''wali'' is Arabic for "trusted one" ("gua ...

, to preach, until finally the meaning of Lengger was changed to 'Elingo Ngger', a Javanese phrase which means 'Remember'. Through this dance, Sunan Kalijaga reminded the people at that time to always remember the Almighty. In its development, this Lengger Dance is performed at every celebration event in Central Java. There are 2 dancers, namely men wearing masks and women wearing typical Javanese dancers clothes.

Form and Movement

This dance is performed by 2 dancers, a man and a woman in pairs. Typical of male dancers wearing

and typical of female dancers wearing traditional clothes and dressed like ancient Javanese princesses using a

kemben ''Kemben'' ( jv, ꦏꦼꦩ꧀ꦧꦼꦤ꧀, Indonesian: ''kemban'') is an Indonesian female torso wrap historically common in Java, Bali, and other part of Indonesian archipelago. It is made by wrapping a piece of ''kain'' (clothes), either pla ...

and ''selendang'' (

shawl A shawl (from fa, شال ''shāl'',) is a simple item of clothing from Kashmir, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folded ...

). The duration of this dance is between 10 minutes in each round and is accompanied by music from traditional musical instruments such as

gambang A gambang, properly called a gambang kayu ('wooden gambang') is a xylophone-like instrument used among people of Indonesia in gamelan and kulintang, with wooden bars as opposed to the metallic ones of the more typical metallophones in a gamelan. ...

saron SARON stands for Swiss Average Rate Overnight and represents the overnight interest rate of the secured funding market for the Swiss Franc (CHF). (Swiss Average Rate Overnight) is an overnight interest rates average referencing the Swiss Fra ...

kendang Kendang or Gendang ( jv, ꦏꦼꦤ꧀ꦝꦁ, translit=Kendhang, su, ᮊᮨᮔ᮪ᮓᮀ, translit=Kendang, ban, ᬓᬾᬦ᭄ᬤᬂ, translit=Kendang, Tausug/Bajau Maranao: ''Gandang'', Bugis: ''Gendrang'' and Makassar: ''Gandrang'' or ''Ganra ...

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

s, and others.

References

{{Dance of Indonesia Dance in Indonesia Dances of Java Javanese culture

Etymology

History

Form and Movement

See also

References