The Revival of Sang Hyang Dedari Dance: A Phenomenological Approach To Social-Ecological Reconstruction in Bali

Abstract

This research and community engagement investigates an ancient Balinese ritual known as Sang Hyang Dedari. The dance is interrelated to an agricultural aspect of the traditional Balinese living. As the Balinese struggle to maintain their values from the constant threat of modernization and industrialization, this dance reveals the powerful impact of creating an awareness of socio-ecological equilibrium. The effort made by the villagers of Geriana Kauh, Karangasem, displays how local community rebuilds its environment based on their traditional ecological value. Analyzing Sang Hyang Dedari dance through phenomenological approach, thus, it can be discovered how the ritual sustains the social relations. The bodies of the dancers are the center of an elaborate nexus between people, nature and god. To understand how the dualism of sacred and profane bodies, this research utilizes the body theory by Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The importance of phenomenology as a theory relates to the understanding on how the ritual works as an event in its totality. Understanding the unity between the presence of the divine, nature and human. The output of this research and community engagement is a museum built in cooperation between University of Indonesia with the villagers of Geriana Kauh, Karangasem. As the performance and knowledge about Sang Hyang Dedari appeared to be scarce, this museum is a form of collaboration to retrace the history of Sang Hyang Dedari ritual, in an attempt to conserve the ancient knowledge.

The Existence of Sanghyang Jaran Dance in Pengubengan Temple

“…In general, there are several types of Sanghyang dances, those are Sanghyang Dewa, Sanghyang Dedari, Sanghyang Dangklik, Sanghyang Celeng, Sanghyang Sengkrong, Sanghyang Janger, Sanghyang Kidang, and so on (Lugraha, 2021). The disappearance of Sang Hyang Dedari ritual is a direct impact to the massive modernization happening in Bali (Putri, 2017). Therefore, it is certain that there are many types of Sanghyang dances in Bali, and it is obvious that there are differences between the various types of Sanghyang dances, whether on the processions, costumes, dancers, as well as gamelan or the music used.…”