Bedhaya

The bedhaya (also written as bedoyo, beḍaya, and various other transliterations) is a sacred ritualized dance of Java, Indonesia, associated with the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta. Along with the serimpi, the bedhaya epitomized the elegant (alus) character of the royal court, and the dance 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 is no longer performed. The Solonese dance continues to be performed once per year, on the second day of the Javanese month of Ruwah (during May in the Gregorian calendar), 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.

Some kind of female dance known as bedhaya existed on Java at least as early as the Majapahit Empire. Indeed, some of the steps of the modern dance are said to be as old as the 3rd century. However, the modern form is traditionally dated to the court of Sultan Agung of Mataram (reigned 1613–1645). Unfortunately there is almost no historical evidence to back up the claims made about the advances in the arts in Sultan Agung's courts, and the existence of the dance is not clearly documented until the late 18th century.

There are many myths which explain the origin of the dance, which generally have either an account of a meeting with an Indic deity (Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu, Indra, or the Buddha), or the meeting of Kangjeng Ratu Kidul, the Goddess of the South Sea, meeting with a founder of the Mataram dynasty, either Sultan Ageng or his grandfather, Senapati. In the former, the nine dancers were the creation of a deity, who were 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.

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