Presentation

The main purpose of this presentation was for us to research other types of masked theatre alongside we had been physically training in for the week.
I have an interest in dance so I went for a traditional dance mask.

Topeng dance is a type of storytelling or drama dance from Indonesia accompanied with music. Dancers wear masks and bright costumes that represent characters in the play. It appeared in the 15th century in Bali and Java where is prevalent still but it can also be found in other islands of Indonesia. Topeng dance originated from tribal dances held in the honor of ancestors, where dancers with masks were playing roles of messengers of Gods. In the beginning; prevailing themes of Topeng dance were nature and ancestral spirits.

The dance over the years developed stories over royals, and the incorporation of the religion; in particular Hinduism. Predominantly performed at a temple anniversary celebration called Odalan;

the order of the performance begins with the appearance of all characters wearing a mask on stage (no matter whether they are part of the story, this is 4 or 5 characters who have to embody all the roles of the story); characters of a higher status have whole face masks and say nothing as their focus is their movement and dance itself. Their masks are golden or white to make their status prevalent. The servants then are the narrators and all wear half masks for this reason,they are informing the audience of the same story but all from their own perspective which is where the humour comes into play. There are also masks of demons and animals that share common animalisitc features. Shapes of masks are defined by the local tradition. Masks in central Java are triangular in shape, in East Java they archaically stylized while mask in Cirebon are very stylized and have faces reduced almost to a symbol. It is also believed that when actors puts his mask on he is connected to the spirit realm and is in form of a trance.

(all italic information is from:

http://www.historyofmasks.net/mask-history/history-of-dance-masks/