Fire and Trance Dance

Tweet This was the best performance that I saw in Ubud. It was called the Kecak Fire and Trance Dance. It's a special dance accompanied by the human voice -- about 50 men sitting around a circle -- chanting. The human voice is the only instrument. Before they begin chanting, a priest dressed in white blesses each row of men.

The performance features many characters from the Ramayana -- including Garuda. One of my favorite characters is Hanoman, the Monkey God, below.The performance concludes with a pile of coconuts set on fire in the center of the circle and one of the characters dances in the fire -- kicking the hot coconuts around the stage -- and occasionally into the feet of members of the audience.After the performance, the fire dancer takes a much-deserved break -- check out his feet.