Bali's Kecak Dance

BALI'S KECAK DANCEKecak (pronounced: /'ke.tʃak/, roughly "KEH-chahk", alternate spellings: Ketjak and Ketjack), a form of Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana.

However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.[1]Kecak was originally a trance ritual accompanied by male chorus. German painter and musician Walter Spies became deeply interested in the ritual while living in Bali in the 1930s and worked to recreate it into a drama, based on the Hindu Ramayana and including dance, intended to be presented to Western tourist audiences. This transformation is an example of what James Clifford describes as part of the "modern art-culture system"[2] in which, "the West or the central power adopts, transforms, and consumes non-Western or peripheral cultural elements, while making 'art' which was once embedded in the culture as a while, into a separate entity."[3] Spies worked with Wayan Limbak and Limbak popularized the dance by traveling throughout the world with Balinese performance groups. These travels have helped to make the Kecak famous throughout the world.

Let's Conquer the World!

Topic: Countries of the World

Level: Form 4 (advanced)

Time: 40 minutes (1 period)

Aims:

i) To find specific information on a website and to improve general knowledge
ii) To practice vocabulary related to countries by identifying specific criteria of the countries. iii) To practice reading comprehension on countries.
iv) To practice interactive speaking and listening.

Language Contents :

i) Nouns
ii) Adjectives

Technical Requirements:

i) One computer for two students with an Internet connection and a Web Browser.
ii) Microsoft Word application
iii) Thumb drive
iv) A projector

Website (s): www.infoplease.com , www.nationsonline.org

Preparation:
i) Locate sites dedicated to countries of the world
ii) Using information from the site, prepare a worksheet.

Procedure:

1.Teacher asks students about their general knowledge on countries of the world by asking the products of a country, the capitals, the nationalities, etc.

2.Teacher shows the worksheet for the activity on the projector from Microsoft word document application; pertaining the questions on the capital of countries, nationality and the flag. Ask them if they can answer the questions. Tell them that the answers to all the questions are available online.
List of the countries to be found:

i) Brazil
ii) Brunei
iii) France
iv) Ireland
v) Japan
vi) Myanmar
vii) Russia
viii) Sweeden
ix) United Kingdom
x) Vietnam

3.Take students to the sites chosen (www.infoplease.com > countries of the world or www.nationsonline.org > countries). Students should complete the task within 15-20 minutes by typing the answers in Windows Microsoft Word and pasting the picture of the flags accordingly, using the format teacher has shown.

i) country
ii) flag
iii) capital
iv) ethnicity/race/nationality

Students are required to save their findings in their thumb drives.

4.During the task, students are required to have a brief reading on the country and take note of any vocabulary that is new or difficult for them. (Scope that need to be paid attention to is the products of the countries for next activity)

5. Teacher tells students about the form of adjectives they have learnt - nationality is a form of adjective.

6.Teacher and students discuss the answer by asking pairs to take turn to show one of their findings by using the projector in front of the class, for at least 2-3 minutes presentation. Students need to pretend that they are the investors from the country presented. They need to attract investors to have an investment in their countries by giving information about the sources they have in the country and a brief explanation or interesting information about the country.

Follow up activity:

1.Teacher distributes worksheets prepared to students.

2. Students are required to search for the answers from www.nationsonline.org or they can answer them according to their previous reading about the countries.

Teacher's name : Ms. Wan Suhailaliza bt. Wan Mohd Hussin

Teacher's ID number : 2005 478 479