Traditional Trance Dance "Seblang"

"Seblang" Dance of Life From Banyuwangi, Indonesia

The seblang is a trance dance performed once a year in two villages in the Banyuwangi area in East Java, Indonesia, which are home to the Oseng (also spelled Osing), a Javanese sub-group. These villages, located in the district (kecamatan) of Glagah, are Bakungan, where the ritual covers one day and is performed at night, and Olesari (also Ulihsari), where the activities go on for seven days during the day.

The ritual, in which either a pre-menarcheal girl or a post- menopausal woman - depending on the village - is put into a trance to be possessed by a spirit, is said by the inhabitants of the two villages to be the oldest and most potent ritual in the Banyuwangi area. In the course of the proceedings the villagers establish contact with both ancestral and tutelary spirits in order to promote the welfare of the community, keep the land fertile, and ensure the success of the next erop. The ritual is similar to trance and possession phenomena elsewhere in Indonesia, such as the sanghyang of Bali, the sintren of West Java , the sintring of Madura and the Nini Thowong performances that used to be found throughout Java. These performances all have a similar goal, namely promoting individual and community welfare, and use very similar personages and similar techniques for inducing trance, such as the inhalation of smoke, and music and dance.

Also, the tayuban dance, which formerly was very popular at Javanese village celebrations and in which trance was not a factor, was 'an integral part of village shrine ritual associated with annual bersih desa [the cleansing of the village] festivity', as well as with the associated veneration of the founder of the village The gandrung dance of Banyuwangi, closely related to the seblang, today serves a function similar to that of the tayuban in East Java. On a more individual level, those who go into a trance are thought to be able to foretell the future and to know the cures for diseases and the like. If the seblang dance were not to take place, the village would be sure to suffer; informants readily gave examples of trouble resulting from neglect of the seblang ritual.

In the two villages in which seblang is found today, the performances take place on the occasion of the annual bersih desa, during which the community is cleansed of the accumulated effects of discord, especially between people and the spirit world. Although nearly all the villagers profess allegiance to Islam, belief in the importance of maintaining proper relations with both tutelary and ancestral spirits remains strong. While the outcome of one's endeavours ultimately depends on God, the goodwill of these spirits is seen as essential to success, either directly or through their intercession with God. During bersih desa, therefore, God, and also the spirits and the ancestors, are thanked for the success of the past harvest and are asked to bless the coming agricultural cycle and the people generally.

In the past the time for these celebrations was around the beginning of the Javanese month Sura, which was the start of the new year. Now, however, they are adapted to the Islamic calendar, the celebration in Olehsari taking place a week after Idul Fitri, the end of the Islamic month of fasting (Ramadhan), and that in Bakungan around Idul Adha, the fifteenth of the month Haji, during which the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca is undertaken. This and other Muslim adjustments notwithstanding, the main aim of the performances is to strengthen relations between the villages and the spirit world.

The ritual description of 'a public rite performed for the benefit of the whole village or community', characteristic of 'tightly structured and relatively elaborate food-producing - usually agricultural societies'. It may not always have been this way. Between at least the late 17th and the 19th centuries, war and political turbulence so disturbed the social fabric of what had been the kingdom of Balambangan (in which Banyuwangi is located) that in 1780 its population had been reduced to about 9000 people. It is doubtful, therefore, whether one can speak of a 'tightly structured and relatively elaborate food.

In the late 19th century, a period when reliable data started becoming available, there were professional spirit dancers in the old Balambangan area who could be called upon in case of illness or when one needed to redeem a vow (nadar), and who thus fulfilled a role akin to the shamanistic one mentioned above. Such a figure probably also offered his services during the annual celebrations, at least in Bakungan, where this is said to have been a tradition since the foundation of the village. According to the villagers the area was a bakung {Crinium asiaticum) forest at the time of the founders' arrival. In the centre of this forest, where they wanted to build their village hall (balai desa), stood either a large nagasari (Mesua ferea) or banyan tree inhabited by numerous spirits. Because the tree had to be felled, these spirits had to be persuaded to move to avoid difficulties with them.

The spirits agreed on condition that each year a seblang performance would be held, during which one of them would possess the dancer. The tradition of sponsoring a seblang in fulfilment of a promise or to effect a cure seems to have died out now. The only occasions for its performance are the annual ceremonies in Bakungan and Olesari.