Topeng dance

The tradition & historical record

Topeng (from Balinese: ᬢᭀᬧᬾᬂ; Javanese: ꦠꦺꦴꦥꦺꦁ, romanized: topèng; Sundanese: ᮒᮧᮕᮨᮔᮌ) is a dramatic form of Indonesian dance in which one or more mask-wearing ornately costumed performers interpret traditional narratives concerning fabled kings, heroes, and myths, accompanied by gamelan or other traditional music instruments. Topeng dance is a typical Indonesian dance that can be found in various regions of Indonesia. Topeng dance has the main characteristic that the dancers use masks to cover their faces. The dance will usually be performed by one dancer or a group of dancers. Topeng is widely used in dances that are part of traditional ceremonies or the retelling of ancient stories from the ancestors. It is believed that topeng is closely related to ancestral spirits, which are considered to be the interpretations of gods. In some tribes, topeng still adorns various daily artistic and customary activities. Topeng dance is a dance performance filled with meaningful symbols that are expected to be understood by the audience. These symbols are conveyed through the colors of the masks, the expressions of the masks, and the accompanying music. The meaning conveyed can be in the form of leadership values, love, wisdom, and many others expressed through the medium of dance movements. In 2010, Topeng Cirebon from Cirebon, West Java was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Indonesia by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture. ¹

The term topeng is the Javanese word for "mask" or "dance-drama that uses the mask". In modern daily Javanese and Indonesian vocabulary, tari topeng or "topeng dance" refers to a dance or dance-drama performance that uses a mask. ¹

Indonesian masked dance predates Hindu-Buddhist influences. Native Indonesian tribes still perform traditional masked-dances to represent nature, as the Hudoq dance of the Dayak people of Kalimantan, or to represent ancestor spirits. With the arrival of Hinduism in the archipelago, the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics began to be performed in masked-dance. The oldest known record that concerns Topeng dance is from the ninth century. Around 840 AD an Old Javanese (Kawi) inscriptions called Jaha Inscriptions issued by Maharaja Sri Lokapala form Medang Kingdom in Central Java mentions three sorts of performers: atapukan, aringgit, and abanol. Atapukan means Mask dance show, Aringgit means Wayang puppet show, and abanol means joke art. On the inscription of Candi Perot (850 AD), the word "manapel" is written from the word "tapuk" or "tapel" which means mask. On the Bebetin inscription (896 AD) there is the word "patapukan" which means a mask association. In the Mantiasih inscription (904 AD) there are the terms "matapukan" and "manapukan" which means that they relate to the drama presentation of masks. The most popular storyline of topeng dance, however, is derived from the locally developed Javanese Panji cycles, based on the tales and romance of Prince Panji and Princess Chandra Kirana, set in the 12th-century Kadiri kingdom. One of the earliest written records of topeng dance is also found in the 14th-century poem Nagarakretagama, which describes King Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit — wearing a golden mask — as an accomplished topeng dancer. The current topeng dance form arose in the 15th century in Java and Bali where it remains prevalent, but it is also found in other Indonesian islands — such as Madura (near East Java). ¹

It is believed that the use of masks is related to the cult of the ancestors, which considered dancers the interpreters of the gods. Topeng performances open with a series of non-speaking masked characters that may not be related to the story to be performed. These traditional masks often include Topeng Manis (a refined hero), Topeng Kras (a martial, authoritarian character), and Topeng Tua (an old man who may joke and draw out the audience). The story is narrated from a penasar, a jawless half-mask that enables the actor to speak clearly. In group topeng, there are usually two penasars providing two points of view. The performance alternates between speaking and non-speaking characters and can include dance and fight sequences as well as special effects (sometimes provided by the gamelan). It is almost always wrapped up by a series of comic characters introducing their views. The narrators and comic characters frequently break Western conventions of storytelling by including current events or local gossip to get a laugh. In topeng, there is a conscious attempt to include many, sometimes contradictory, aspects of the human experience: the sacred and the profane, beauty and ugliness, refinement and caricature. A detailed description and analysis of topeng pajegan, the one-man form of topeng, is available in Masked Performance by John Emigh, a Western theater professor who has become a performer of Balinese topeng. ¹

The topeng also calls topeng barikin from South Kalimantan. ¹

Betawi mask dance or tari topeng Betawi is a theatrical form of dance-drama of the Betawi people in Jakarta, Indonesia. This dance-drama encompasses dance, music, bebodoran (comedy) and lakon (drama). The Betawi mask dance demonstrates the theme of Betawi society life which is represented in the form of dance and drama. It is called mask dance because the dancers use topeng (mask) during dancing and Betawi people believed that the topeng has magical powers. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Topeng dances”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Topeng dance is Indonesian traditional dance, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 3 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²