Balinese mask dance – Tari Topeng Bondres Tua (comic old man)

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Dancer: I Made Djimat
Topeng Bondres Tua is a common old man. He interprets the thoughts and problems of the viewer. Because he talks a lot and makes jokes he wears a half mask with a movable lower jaw.
Topeng (Indonesian for "mask") 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 music.
It is believed that the use of masks is related to the cult of the ancestors, which considered dancers the interpreters of the gods, the masks have a mystic power that influences the performance of the dancer.
The actor moves creatively, either leading or following the gamelan music, to suit the expressions of his mask, which at first appear static and neutral yet once animated, takes on a multitude of emotions.
Topeng Bondres is one of the four variants of the Topeng genre in Bali. Bondres is dominated by comic characters, such as buffoons and clowns, and its play contains endless amounts of spontaneous humour. Created around the early 1980s.