If you go to Bali seeing some of the dances is an absolute must. I just sit spellbound through them. Have seen one at our hotel in Sanur but you can't beat Ubud for the atmosphere.Saying that one of the first dances we went to was the Barong and Kris dance.There is one performance every day( 9.30am) in Denpasar. The performance is done as much for the locals as for the tourists. The dance lasts one hour. It is a spectacular event. What struck me was how much the performers were enjoying taking part. The dance is centred round the battles the barong has with Rangda. The Barong is a mythical animal, based probably on a lion and is the symbol of everything good to man. Rangda is the queen of death. The costume of the Barong is pretty elaborate and two dancers wear it. The battle is never ending. I read that once the dance is over the masks of the two main characters are put into a special room in a temple and the mask of the Rangda is covered very carefully because its deadly powers are greatly feared. The next day the eternal battle between good and evil begins again. The only trouble for me was that I had been up very sick the whole night and although OH went to the chemist early morning and came back with the recommended huge blue tablet I still spent most of the performance trying not to be sick I must go back sometime to see the Barong when I can fully appreciate it
A big part of the dance is the gamelan orchestra. It gives it a unique sound. But not all dances have the gamelan- one famous dance uses voices instead of instruments.