Wayan Limbak, 106; Co-Creator of Balinese Monkey Dance
Wayan Limbak, 106, a Balinese dancer who helped create the island’s famous monkey dance, died Friday of a suspected stroke in Gianyar, on the island of Bali, in Indonesia.
In the 1930s, Limbak worked with German painter Walter Spies to adapt a traditional exorcism ritual into the dance, known in Indonesian as Kecak. The dance features a chorus of bare-chested men making monkey sounds.
Limbak helped popularize the dance and shape Bali’s image as an exotic cultural paradise by taking his dance troupe to several international festivals.
His efforts increased tourism to Bali.
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