Balinese Tjondong Dancer

A very famous Balinese Legong dance is performed by three girls. The Tjondong dancer performs the introductory dance followed by two Legong dancers. The Tjondong dancer later performs an animated dance mimicking a bird, hence the carved leather wings painted gold.

I based this pose on a superb classic pose of one famous dancer Gusti Raka, featured in a book "Dancing Out of Bali" by John Coast.

Balinese cloth is typified by being stamped with gold leaf patterns and the cloth so treated is know as prada. Her headdress is made from carved leather painted gold and covered with fragrant jasmine flowers. Her makeup is delicate and her nails are painted.

This piece was converted based on my own specialised castings. Additional details were made from sheet metal and epoxy putty. Mixed media painted with Artist oils.

The setting represents a typical Balinese temple doorway with loose red brickwork as the dancer enters the stage and begins her performance.