Male masked dancer bows forward slightly and lifts front of tunic
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- 1986
- Location
- Peliatan, Bali, Indonesia
- License
- This photograph copyright ©2007. Terms of use
Related media
Learn more
- Search LEARN NC for Bali, costumes, dance, epics, Indonesia, kings, masks, men, Peliatan, performance, and theater.
In the classroom
- See our collection of articles on visual literacy for ideas on using photographs meaningfully in the classroom.
A male masked dancer bows forward slightly and lifts the front of his ornate tunic.
The dancer’s wooden mask is painted white with a dark moustache, large mouth, and round bulging eyes. The character’s costume includes a tall gold crown and a yellow, black, and red sequined tunic. The character’s long fingernails look fierce, but they also generally symbolize persons of high birth who do not do manual labor.
In Bali, masked character dances are based on long stories not played out on stage but well known to the audience. Many of the male dances relate to epics of ancient kings. The male dancers intersperse calm and vigorous movements to show the stately power and quick reactions of the ruler.
