Bare-chested men converge in a capella rhythm and wild dance, performing the Hindu story of Ramayana, known in the west as the Monkey Chant.  Donning Bali’s typical checkered cloths around their waists and intense looks on their faces, the 150 men sit in concentric circles, their hands raised up high, a stylized ode to the native trance ritual called sanghyang.

Bellowing calls of cak cak cak are heard throughout the performance, giving the dance its name.  Accompanied only by chimes placed at the feet of Ramayana, there are no other musical instruments used as these performers communicate the struggle of Prince Rama to rescue his wife, kidnapped by the evil Ravana.  The tale, one of India’s two oldest epics, was penned by a poet named Valmiri, and consists of 50,000 verses in Sanskrit in the 5^th century BC.  What can be taken at face value for an incredible story of loyalty and courage also has embedded within the ancient teachings of the Hindu sages and the characters represent human qualities at their purest.

Despite its portrayal of Hindi lore, this electric performance ritual was actually conceived by German man called Walter Spies, a painter and musician living in Bali in the 1930s.   Passionate about the culture and its beliefs, he adapted the sanghyang ritual and superimposed it over the story of Ramayana, turning the written epic into a three-dimensional ritual of song and dance.   While his inspiration was cultural, his intention was also economic, and the performance was in fact designed for audiences of Western tourists.

Spies worked with a local choreographer named Wayan Limbak who was thought to have been the brainchild behind the marketing of the performance internationally.  Some say he’s also credited with much of the concept and that Spies happened upon a work in progress and joined the ranks as a creative leader.