Inasmuch as performers are typically young men, the dance is plausibly a kind of demonstration of masculinity.It is generally an opportunity for youths to engage in some amount of wildness in a controlled way.It also provides a kind of emotional euphoria, in which each dancer feels a sense of connection with a greater power, and then finally falls down, overcome by the spirits. After the dancer has fallen down, the shaman will give the dancer some water to drink, which will awaken him once again in his normal consciousness.Although the origin of the dance is not exactly known, some have suggested that it could have started as a reenactment of battles fought in Java between local powers, or perhaps even with the Dutch colonial power.