Giring-Giring Dance

The Gantar or Giring-Giring Dance is usually performed by men and women in pairs. The dancers wear beautiful regional dress and each carries one or two pieces of bamboo filled with grain. The long slender pieces of bamboo produce a sound when they are moved, and it is this sound that determines the rhythm. The accompanying music is usually a simple string-instrument Kangkanong (Gamelan) and drum. The Gantar Dance is a dance offered to the Goddess of Rice and held after harvest as a token of gratitude. Formerly, after this performance the dancers would stab a buffalo prepared for the occasion. It was believed that the more blood coming from the buffalo, the stronger the rice to be planted.