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The bedhaya (also written as bedoyo, beḍaya and various other transliterations) () is a sacred, ritualised Javanese dance of Java, Indonesia, associated with the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta. Along with the srimpi, the bedhaya epitomized the elegant () character of the royal court and became an important symbol of the ruler's power.
The bedhaya has different forms in the two court cities, the bedhaya Ketawang in Surakarta (Solo) and the bedhaya Semang in Yogyakarta, the latter of which has not been performed for more than 20 years. The Solonese dance continues to be performed once per year on the second day of the Javanese month of Ruwah (May), to commemorate the ascension of the current Susuhunan (prince) of Surakarta. Nine females, relatives or wives of the Susuhunan, perform the dance before a private audience. An invitation to anyone outside of the inner circle of the court is a considerable honor.Becker, 143.
There are many mythology which explain the origin of the dance, which generally have either an account of a meeting with an Hindu deities (Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu, Indra, or Gautama Buddha), or the meeting of Kangjeng Ratu Kidul, the Goddess of the South Sea, with a founder of the Mataram dynasty, either Sultan Ageng or his grandfather, Sutawijaya. In the former, the nine dancers were the creation of a deity who was brought to life and offered the dance to their maker in gratitude. In the latter, the dance was created when Kangjeng Ratu Kidul fell in love with the sultan and danced the bedhaya for him; the nine dancers in the modern dance represent the spirit of the goddess.Becker, 119–124.
Since the decline in the power of the royal courts, other, more accessible forms of bedhaya have become popular, not as religious ritual, but as artistic performance. These do not require the royal presence, and may be performed on stage for an admission fee. They frequently recount stories used in wayang.Becker, 141–142.
A name and number is given to each of the nine dancers, which designate a specific position in the changing choreographic pattern. There are slight variations between different sources in the names and numbers of the dancers, but there is consensus on the general forms. They are: a human being, representing taṇhā (the word for desire or craving in Buddhism), four (the top three of which are used as note names; see slendro), and the four limbs:Becker, 132, citing K.G.P.H. Hadiwidjojo, Bedhaya Ketawang: Tarian Sakral di Candi-candi, Jakarta: Balai Pustaka, 1981, p. 20; Soedarsono, Wayang Wong in the Yogyakarta Kraton: History, Ritual Aspects, Literary Aspects, and Characterization, Ph.D. dissertation, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1983, p. 148; and N. Tirtaamidjaja, "A Bedaja Ketawang Performance at the Court of Surakarta", Indonesia Vol. 1, 1967, p. 48.
The first two sections of the dance each have three positions, with slight variations, while the last adds a final, fourth position. The first position is in the shape of a human being, with the first five dancers in a line down the middle, and those representing the right and left sides in front and behind (from the perspective of the Susuhunan), respectively. In the second position, the dancers divide into two facing groups, the arms and desire to one side, and the chakras and legs on the other. In the third section of the dance, there is an added section of an encounter between the desire and head dancers in the second position, while the other dancers squat. The third position places the dancers either in a row (Surakarta) or with the arms to one side (Yogyakarta), with desire in the middle. The final position is in a 3x3 grid ( rakit tiga-tiga), with the three upper chakra centers in the middle column.Becker, 131-136.
The pieces used to accompany the dances are traditionally gendhing with long structures (originally designated at least kethuk 4 arang; see gendhing for an explanation); however, shorter gendhings were also used later (such as kethuk 4 kerep or kethuk 2). The most ancient and sacred song is the Bedhaya Ketawang. When the bedhaya dancers appear on stage, in Yogyakarta it was accompanied by an ayak-ayakan; in Surakarta, it is only accompanied by a pathetan known as pathetan bedhaya, which has lost much of the rhythmic freedom associated with pathetans to fit better the stride of the dancers.Kunst, 330.
The literary renaissance of Java in the 18th and 19th centuries, which greatly changed Javanese music, had as one of its first effects the creation of genres of gendhing to accompany bedhaya and serimpi, known as gendhing kemanak and gendhing bedhaya-serimpi. The former were based on a newly composed choral melody, while the latter fitted a new choral part into a pre-existing gendhing melody played by the gamelan. Hundreds of stanzas of text were written for these parts, and a particular gendhing uses at least a dozen. The texts are mainly in the form of a wangsalan (poetic riddle), and deal with a wide variety of subjects.Sumarsam, 96. Much of the text is erotic love poetry, describing the attraction of Kangjeng Ratu Kidul to Sultan Agung.Becker, 128.
Judith Becker provides a tantrism interpretation. The first position shows desire plus the body; the second shows opposition between desire and the chakras (there is some evidence that the legs were considered a fifth chakra), and in the final section, interaction between the head and desire. Afterwards, desire is absorbed into the body, and then the dancers are arranged in the same arrangement as offerings in the Majapahit palace. Three is a number rich in Hinduism symbolism, like the three , the Trilokya or the Trimurti, so a threefold set of three symbolizes completion and perfection.Becker, 136-141.
In the 19th century, dancers held and fired pistols in the performance of the bedhaya.R. Atmadikrama, Babad Krama Dalem Ingkang Sinuhun Kangjeng Susuhunan Paku Buwana Kaping Sanga ing Nagari Surakarta Adniningrat (The chronicle of the marriage of his highness Susuhunan Paku Buwana IX of Surakarta), ms SMP KS 104/4, inscribed Surakarta, mid to late 19th century, p.59; cited in Sumarsam, 77. Sumarsam considered the meaning of the use of pistols an aristocratic attempt to adopt a foreign element to show enhance royal power, or the secularization and informalization of the court ritual when in the presence of European guests.Sumarsam, 78.
During some period in the 19th century, the dancers in Yogyakarta were young men dressed as women. The combination of characteristics of both sexes was thought to have a special spiritual power.
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