Through the Lens: Ramayana Ballet Performance in Photos

Have you ever watched a dance performance and are actually impressed by it?

Almost two weeks ago, I watched a story about Ramayana, a Hindu epic performed in a ballet. Although this ballet version isn’t as grand as the one held in Prambanan temple as the backdrop, the performance was no less than that. This one was held at the Ramayana Ballet Purawista near the Sultan’s palace.

Ramayana is a story of Rama rescuing his wife, who was kidnapped by Rahwana, a king of Alengka. This epic story is presented in a ballet theatrical, portraying good vs evil and a love story. There are a few versions of this story, even in Indonesia; the Balinese and Javanese versions have their differences.

This famous theatrical dance is a must-watch when visiting Yogyakarta, as the story is also carved in the Prambanan temple, another point of interest in the city.

I was fortunate to sit in the front row, and I was able to take pictures of the performers without doing too much zoom. The performers were dressed eloquently and in traditional attire, attempting to resemble the characters in this epic story. They also have different lighting types throughout the performance that indicate the characters and set the story’s mood.

FYI, this performance isn’t done daily, but they follow a schedule during the month. So, you can only watch it during the designated days they host this ballet dance.

The dance movement is slow, but their hands move so swiftly that you can see it in the pictures. The dancers here are composed of people of all ages. Although their energy differs, it didn’t affect much of the performance. However, for someone who has watched the other version, the Prambanan version was a lot better than this due to the backdrop and the dancers.

Even through my pictures, I could tell that the best performances go to Rahwana instead of the story’s protagonist. Some supporting characters also do it well and truly live up to their characters. But my favourite is definitely Rahwana.

Almost at the end of the dance, there will be a simple fire dance performance and firecrackers that could shock or impress the audience. That was interesting as I was sitting in the front and was too close to the stage. Thankfully, it was still safe, although the smoke afterwards was annoying.

One of the challenges of taking pictures with my camera at this place was the light and the speed. As you can see in this picture, the monkey character Hanoman was moving, and I was simply trying to take photos of it. That is what happened to most of the images that I was taking with my camera.

Sometimes, it’s pitch black that you can take pictures of anything in the place. However, with a better lens and camera, you can capture everything happening in this show.

The ones shown here are some of my proper collections from the show. Since the rest of them are like that, hanoman results.

Anyhow, see you around.