Trance and Dance in Bali: History and Collection Facts

Collection details

• Original format: Film, video
• Medium: Film, Video
• Genre: Ethnographic films
• Language: English
• Collection: Foerstel (Lenora) Collection (Library Of Congress)
• Repository: Motion Picture, Broadcasting And Recorded Sound Division
• Call number: Mavis identifier: 2425201
• Catalogue date: 1951
• Catalogue subjects: Ethnographic films
• Named contributors: Bateson, Gregory; Mead, Margaret

Catalogue notes

• Summary: A performance of the kris dance, a Balinese ceremonial dance which dramatizes the never-ending struggle between the witch and the dragon--the death-dealing and the life-protecting--as it is given in the village of Pagoetan in 1937-1939. Dancers go into violent trance seizures and turn their krisses (daggers) against their breasts without injury. Consciousness is restored with incense and holy water. Balinese music forms a background for Dr. Margaret Mead's narration.

Sources and reuse

This guide reorganizes bibliographic facts and catalogue descriptions from the Library of Congress Free to Use and Reuse data package, a published snapshot documented in 2024. The original item record identifies the source material. Audio, films, scores and full-text works are linked through the original record rather than reproduced here.