Brief review from last week:
We were looking at Jaranan, also known as Kuda Lumping (“hobby-horse”).
This is a good example of the survival of adat customs from the pre-Islamic (perhaps even pre-Hindu) era into modern times.
This tradition is common in rural areas of Java. In this performance, dancers (usually young men) dance on horse figures made of palm strands until, often, they become possessed by spirits. The kind of Kuda Lumping where young men become possessed is called “buto lawas.”
At times, audience members may become spontaneously possessed as well, and thereupon enter the ring in which the performance is taking place and dance as well.