Bedhaya Ketawang Dance, Dance of Kasunanan Surakarta

Bedhaya Ketawang dance is a dance of greatness that is only shown when the coronation and anniversary of the king's throne in Kasunanan Surakarta. This dance is a sacred and sacred dance for the community and also Kasunanan Surakarta. Dance Bedhaya Ketawang name is taken from the word bedhaya which means female dancers in the palace, and ketawang which means the sky, which is identical something high, glory and also nobility.

History of Bedhaya Ketawang Dance

Historically, this dance begins when Sultan Agung ruled the Sultanate of Mataram in 1613 until 1645. At one time Sultan Agung did a semedi ritual, when he heard the sound humming from the direction of the sky, Sultan Agung was amazed by the humming voice. Then he summoned his guards and said what happened. From the incident that he created a dance called bedhaya ketawang this. There is also another version that says that when the monastery Panembahan Senapati meet and then make love with the Queen Kencanasari or Kangjeng Ratu Kidul who later became the forerunner of this dance.



However, after the agreement of Giyanti in 1755, the division of the Mataram Sultanate's inheritance to Pakubuwana III and also Hamengkubuwana I. Besides the division of territory, in this agreement, there is also the division of cultural heritage. Bedhaya Ketawang Dance is finally given to Surakarta kasunanan and in its development, the dance is still performed at the coronation and also the commemoration ceremony of the ascension to Sunan Surakarta.



Bedhaya Ketawang Dance describes the relationship between Kangjeng Ratu Kidul with king Mataram. All that is manifested in the movement of dance. Words contained in the song accompaniment Dance Bedhaya Ketawang describes the outpouring of heart from Kangjeng Ratu Kidul to the king. This dance is usually played by 9 (nine) female dancers. According to local beliefs, every performance of Bedhaya Ketawang Dance is believed to be the presence of kangjeng quatu kidul and danced as the tenth dancer.



As a sacred dance, there are several conditions that must be owned by each dancer. The most important requirement is that the dancers must be a holy girl and not menstruate. If the menstruation then the dancer must ask permission to Kangjeng Ratu Kidul first by doing caos dhahar on stage sanga buwana, in the palace of Surakarta. This is done by fasting for several days at the time of the show. The sanctity of the dancers is very important, said he said, during the rehearsal, Kangjeng Ratu Kidul will come to the dancers if the movement in dancing is still wrong.

Dance Companion Bedhaya Ketawang

In the show, Bedjaya Ketawang Dance accompanied by musical accompaniment from gending ketawang gedhe with pelog tones. The instruments used are the gong, kendhang, kethuk, kenong, and kemanak. In Bedjaya Ketawang Dance is divided into three rounds (scene). Amidst the gendhing tone, dance changed into slendro for 2x (twice). After that, the gising tone will return again to pelog tone until the dance ends.



Besides accompanied by gending music, Bedhaya Ketawang Dance is accompanied by a song (song) which describes the outpouring of heart from kangjeng quatu kidul to the king. The first part of the dance is accompanied by the song Durma, then continued with Ratnamulya. At the time the dancers re-enter dalem ageng prabasuyasa, musical instrument added with gambang, rebab, gender and also distilled to add harmony atmosphere.

Bedhaya Ketawang Dance Clothes

In the show, the clothing used by dancers in Bedjaya Ketawang Dance is a clothing used by the bride of Java, namely Dodot Ageng or commonly called Basahan. In the hair, section will use Gelung Bokor Mengkurep, which is a larger size than the Yogyakarta style. For jewelry accessories used in the anthology is the centhung, ridiculous comb, cundhuk mentul, garudha mungkur, and arrived dhadha (a series of flowers worn on the bend, which extends to the right chest).

Development of Bedhaya Ketawang Dance

At first Bedhaya Ketawang Dance was performed for two and a half hours. But since Pakzuwana X's time held a reduction of time, until finally lasted an hour and a half. Bedhaya Ketawang Dance is not displayed at any time, because as one of the ceremonial procession of the palace. Dance is only shown at the time of coronation and also the anniversary of the king's throne in Surakarta. Because of its very sacred, so to watch this dance, of course, there are some requirements that must be met.