Listen to the Kecak Dance

It’s been a while since we blogged about Russell Johnson and his wonderful site, the Connected Traveler. So we thought we’d pay him a visit to see what he’s up to. Well, he’s up to a great deal, and rather than try and cover it all, let me point you to one story I particularly enjoyed. In this audio story, narrated and written by Mr. Johnson, he discusses the Kecak dance, better known as the Balinese Monkey Dance. For those of you who have seen the film Baraka (one of my favorites), you know this dance well. The men sit in a circle and get themselves into a trance, yelling in synche and moving hands like, well, more like birds than monkeys. In Baraka, I am not sure what the men were after, but according to Johnson, in this story they are asking the gods for a return to the days of high tourism. As folks who follow the news know, the Bali attacks of a few years ago dealt a horrible blow to the regions tourism industry. I hope the Kecak dance helps.