Dance

Dance is accessible to anyone with or without prior dance experience. East Javanese dances are usually chosen for instruction but the students may choose which dances they'd like to learn. Dance is taught in the traditional Javanese way, e.g. by example. The student follows behind the instructor and imitates his movements until they become fluid and second nature. Students are given the opportunity to perform in costume as often as possible. This is a source of enormous pride to the instructors and to the art center.

There are many different dance options available from very short and simple, to very long and complex dances. For performance classes like dance, the beginning student can expect to master one short dance within five sessions. Students often take one complete semester of dance and in 10 weeks master two dances. Students resident at the Art Center can expect to learn (however roughly) one dance within one week.

Traditional Malang style dances:

* Beskalan Putri: Beskalan is said to mean beginning dance, for the dance that originated all other female style dances in East Java. The dance depicts a female warrior called Proboretna whose beauty and skill cause men to fight over her. Proboretna was considered the flower of all Malang women warriors. The music used for beskalan is also called Beskalan, played in the tuning system called pelog. The dancer also sings during the dance to welcome all the guests to the performance. Traditionally beskalan was performed as part of fertility rites to thank the earth and the gods for their gratiousness. The dance was performed at neighborhood temples and the gravesites of important ancestors.
* Beskalan Putra: Beskalan was traditionally performed as the opening dance for any event in East Java. The male style of Beskalan was lost for many years, but is now recovered and via workshop sessions and a recording and vcd, the dance has found new life.
* Gunungsari Masked dance
* Bapang masked dance: With his big long red nose and his cheerful disposition, Bapang is one of the favorite mask dances in Malang. Although he is related to the evil King Klono, and often partakes in his nasty deeds, Bapang is too full of life to ever be truly on the wrong side.
* Klono masked dance
* Remo putri
* Remo putra
* Srimpi Limo: this is danced by five young girls, one positioned in each corner of a square and one in the center. The moves focus particularly on the hands, head and upper body, with the dancers changing places periodically. This dance is traditionally performed before ritual purification ceremonies or other spiritual events.
* Tandhakan
* Jaran kepang dor
* Caplokan