Ponorogo Regency has many traditional artistic heritages that are thousands of years old, one of which is the Keling Dance.
This art only exists in Dusun Mojo, Singgahan Village, Pulung District, and managed to captivate the audience when it appeared at the Grebeg Suro celebration.
“Thank God, today we are performing again at the Grebeg Suro event. Apart from reog, the Keling dance is an art that is also native to Ponorogo,” said the head of the Keling dance, Guno, Joyo Wiyoto.
The Keling Dance has become a cultural heritage and is still maintained by the residents of Dusun Mojo.
“Information from our grandmothers, the name Keling was taken from one of the tribal names in Java,” he added.
Then what is unique about this Keling dance is that all the players, namely the musicians and the dancers, are only played by the residents of Dusun Mojo, Singgahan Village.
Wiyoto said that the movements of this dance from the past until now are still the same. The movements were also not adopted from any regional dances.
“The movement from the past until now is still the same,” he said.
According to Wiyoto, he revealed that indeed this dance has its own uniqueness from the performers, costumes to the presence of mystical elements which are always coupled with the Keling art.
Among them, the used costumes cannot be thrown anywhere, they must be disposed of in Dukuh Mojo, if after the performance they leave the area.
Wiyoto, who performs the Keling dance identically with a black body, explained that he used a mixture of bulk oil and charcoal.
“To make the whole body black, use a mixture of bulk oil with charcoal or black powder,” he concluded.
In Sanskrit, this dance can be interpreted as a black dance or also a Keling because the dancers are going around. Adv/Ptr
