Demon disguised as old man in Javanese Ramayana dance at Yogyakarta
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- Unknown
- Location
- Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- License
- This photograph copyright ©2006. Terms of use
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- Search LEARN NC for art, artistic conventions, dance, demons, Indonesia, Javanese, performance, Ramayana, Ravana, theater, and Yogyakarta.
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The demon king Ravana disguises himself as an old man in a Javanese dance performance of the Ramayana at Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in July 1986.
Two dancers are used to represent the chronological transformation of the demon who arrives to trick Rama’s unsuspecting wife Sita (not visible here).
As he crouches in the foreground, the demon concentrates to appear as the old man who is seen behind him on stage. The demon character has a red face, moustache, long hair, and a red crown. The grey and bearded dancer in the background wears a dark crown and royal blue jacket. He carries a long wooden staff.
