Kecak is the fascinating vocal tradition of chanting that is now a performance art performed in Bali, Indonesia. On the tourist agenda in Bali Kecak has become a must see item. To cater for this popularity with the tourists performances of Kecak are performed with regularity. In some location performances are held sometimes every night.
Kecak can be of a ritualistic or secular nature depending on the context. The tourist version of the performance however is of a secular nature. The tourist performance of Kecak involves the story telling of the Ramayana or Mahabarata texts in conjunction with vocal chanting and music, costumes and dance.
The name Kecak is derived from the chanting of staccato monosyllables by a large chorus of men. In Kecak, the human voice is used to replicate the sound of the gamelan.
In Indonesia, a group of instruments or orchestra that is rhythmic in nature is a gamelan. All the different instruments play different rhythmic and melodic parts. All the instruments together though have an interlocking melodic effect.
Imitating the function of the gamelan in Kecak is a group of seventy men using the voice to imitate the gamelan. The purpose of this tradition has changed of the years.
Originally Kecak was used for particular ritualistic objectives. For example in exorcisms when the villages were facing epidemics. Here there were dancers who were young girls. The dancers went into a state of trance and were identified with the celestial nymphs which were the receptacles. After the procession the dancers would return to the temple. Here they were accompanied by the chorus with the Kecak chanting. Ritual remedies were produced to protect the village from the epidemics from this process.
At a certain point Kecak was transformed. It is now the performance version, the secular version is the main version of Kecak that is found. It is this secular version that is what is performed for tourists. This performance version of Kecak is a big attraction for tourists. Yet this version is not the original ritualistic Kecak.
However the original kecak can still be found in the villages in its original form for particular ritualistic events.
July 5th, 2010
Teresa was a forty-four-year-old fashion designer who realized that she had some problems with her drinking. For example, within the past six months she has experienced the need to have a drink or two before going to work, three months ago she failed a random saliva alcohol test where she works, four weeks ago she got arrested for a DWI, and finally, for approximately seven months she has begun to forget what she does and says when she goes out drinking with her friends.
Not unlike other drinkers, Teresa’s alcohol involvement started out little by little and continued at this speed for quite some time because every now and then she engaged in occasional social drinking. In point of fact, for almost three years, every time she went out to drink, she made sure to drink in a responsible manner. Something about her drinking situation, however, seemed to radically change when her husband divorced her.
In Order To Come to Terms With the Loss of Her Husband More Rapidly, Teresa Made Up Her Mind That She Will Start Going Out More Routinely With Some of Her Buddies Who Love to Party
Teresa got exceedingly despondent about the breakup with her husband, and as a way to quit her preoccupation with her negative emotions she came to a decision that she would begin associating more repeatedly with some of her friends who love to ”get down” and drink.
Quite sincerely, Teresa believed that having fun almost every day by partying and drinking with her friends would help her get over the divorce of her husband in a less wearisome manner.
Teresa’s Drinking Escalates Greatly the More Often She Goes to Private Parties, Happy Hours, Sporting Events, Dinner Dates, and Family Get-Togethers With Her Pals
It didn’t take too long, nonetheless, before her drinking increased considerably the more routinely she went to and drank at sporting events, happy hours, private parties, dinner dates, and family get-togethers with her pals. Furthermore, the fact that her drinking friends were all quite a few years younger than she was and therefore able to party and drink more irresponsibly was one of the reasons why she didn’t focus more on her increased drinking. To be brief, she was having a great time drinking just like everyone else in her group of friends without giving too much thought to the unhealthy results of her irresponsible and hazardous drinking.
Yet somewhere in the recesses of her brain she realized that she probably needed alcohol counseling but avoided the thought as much as possible.
Teresa Gets a Physical Examination, ”Comes Clean” About Her Irresponsible to Her Healthcare Practitioner, and Acknowledges Her Dejection
One afternoon during her twelve month physical, her healthcare professional asked her if she drank alcohol. Not wanting to lie to her healthcare practitioner, Teresa disclosed the truth that she routinely drinks more than she should. In point of fact, she stated that she commonly drinks in an excessive manner. Then Teresa told her healthcare practitioner about her sadness. More to the point, she stated that broken relationships often caused a dismal progression of events characterized by increased drinking which further resulted in more dismal feelings that, in turn, resulted in more drinking. And this is precisely what took place when she and her husband got divorced seven months ago.
When her doctor heard this, he told Teresa that according to various alcoholism facts and statistics on alcoholism he was reviewing, alcoholism and depression commonly come about in the same individual. He then told Teresa that some of the alcohol statistics, research investigations, and facts he has been looking into also underscore the fact that individuals who drink in an excessive and hazardous manner and who also go through depression need to obtain treatment for both medical circumstances.
Teresa’s Doctor Schedules an Appointment for a Psychological Appraisal and For an Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependency Assessment
Teresa’s physician then told her the following: “I am not trying to make an overly quick diagnosis, but with your medical situation we may be dealing with two separate issues. As a consequence, I think we probably need to make an appointment for you to get an alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency appraisal from my partner, Dr. Hults, who is a substance abuse and chemical dependency specialist. Whether your drinking circumstance is more correlated with alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction is unclear, but I believe that further exploration is required. Then I think we need to schedule an appointment for you to get a psychological assessment from another one of my partners, Dr. Brosky, who is a clinical psychologist. I want to get a better handle on your melancholy and see how much your depression and drinking are interrelated.” Teresa expressed her endorsement of her physician’s treatment plan and thanked him for his time and concern.
In reality, Teresa now experienced a sense of personal self esteem and happiness because she finally got inspired to do something positive about her excessive drinking and her depression. Now all she had to do was to try to trim down on her drinking and get ready for her appointments.
July 5th, 2010