Pendet Dance

Pendet Dance is one of the oldest welcome dances on the island of Bali. This dance has become an integral part of the spiritual life of the Hindu community in Bali. The performing arts experts of Bali, based on several notes, agreed that 1950 was the birth year of Pendet dance. Not only when welcoming important guests, in every Balinese dance performances, this dance is always made part of the opening dance.

This type of dance is hosted by a group of young women who each carry a silver bowl containing colorful flowers. And at the end of the dance, the dancers sprinkle the flowers they bring to the audience or the welcome guests, as a welcome greeting.

In the beginning, Pendet Dance is used as a complement of piodalan ceremonies in temples or family shrines, as a symbol of gratitude, respect, and joy when welcoming the presence of the gods who descend from khayangan.

The initiator of this dance are two artists born in Sumertha village, Denpasar, namely I Wayan Rindi and Ni Ketut Reneng. Both of them created Pendet welcome dance with four dancers performed as part of a tourism show at a number of hotels in Denpasar, Bali. And in 1961, I Wayan Beratha developed this dance and increased the number of dancers to five, as is often the case now.

Source: https://www.indonesiakaya.com/jelajah-indonesia/detail/tari-pendet