Bali’s governor says he’s taking action to shut down the practice of a Balinese dance that’s often “erotic” and “pornographic” since it’s “embarrassing” for Bali.
Governor Made Mangku Pastika reportedly has plans to create a circular for the regents, mayors, and indigenous village departments to ban the dance Joget Bumbung as more and more risqué versions of the dance have been increasingly shared on social media.
The dance is apparently a flirtatious one, where female dancers typically move seductively and invite audience members to join and is done for entertainment purposes, rather than religious ones.
“We are embarrassed by their pornographic dancing, there should be no pornographic dancing. Balinese are said to have values that noble, honorable, and so on. Don’t make it so terrible,” Pastika said in Denpasar on Tuesday, as quoted by the Berita Satu network.
In addition to stopping Balinese from performing the dance, Pastika also says he hopes to get videos of Joget Bumbung removed from the net and that those who have posted such footage should delete it.
“If not, I would expect law enforcement to take it down, because it’s pornographic,” Pastika said.
Pastika isn’t the only authority figure in Bali hoping to prohibit the dance. Coordinator for the Alliance of Bali Community Leaders (ATMB), Agung Suryawan Wiranatha, has previously stated strong discomfort with the Joget Bumbung.
“We are trying to encourage various parties to ban the porn-like dance, including live performances,” Wirantha said, as quoted by Berita Satu.
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