Ramayana Ballet at Prambanan
Indonesia, Java – Epic Hindu drama-dance performed in open-air at temple complex
Thinking Through Michel Foucault (1926-1984)’s Philosophy on the Art Essence
“Architecture of the Ethical Self in Sacred Motion”
1. Myth as an Ethical Mirror in the Open-Air Polis
The Ramayana Ballet at Prambanan is not just a performance—it is an event that fuses narrative, movement, and sacred architecture into one ethical spatial field. Staged under the stars, in front of the towering 9th-century Hindu temple, the ballet transforms myth into a living cartography of the self. Foucault’s concept of the aesthetics of existence—the shaping of life as a beautiful, ethical form—is dramatized as Rama, Sita, and Hanuman enact gestures of loyalty, temptation, exile, and return.
In this open-air ritual, performance becomes an act of public philosophy: each choreographed motion is a coded reflection on how to govern oneself in relation to desire, duty, and sacrifice. Rama's dharma, Sita's silence, Hanuman's loyalty—these are not roles but stylizations of existence.
2. Sacred Topography and the Techne of the Self
The ballet’s sacred setting—the Prambanan temple—functions as more than a backdrop. It is the architectural conscience of the performance. Foucault speaks of technologies of the self, those techniques through which individuals transform their own bodies and thoughts. In the ballet, the dancers’ bodies become glyphs etched against the temple’s silhouette, enacting discipline, restraint, and spiritual effort.
The aestheticized postures of Rama and Lakshmana embody sovereignty without tyranny—the ethical mastery of one’s impulses. Sita’s meditative stillness becomes a form of active resistance. Their movements mirror the metaphysical proportions of the temple behind them, blending bodily poise with cosmological alignment.
3. Visibility, Surveillance, and Self-Formation
In Foucault's panopticon model, visibility disciplines the subject. Yet in Ramayana Ballet, this dynamic is inverted: the performer is seen by the gods. The open sky, ancient stone towers, and candle-lit amphitheater create a mise-en-scène of divine surveillance. The performer does not act for the crowd alone but is witnessed by cosmic order itself.
Thus, ethical conduct is internalized not through fear, but through spectacle as self-refinement. Every dancer is both artist and ascetic—one who renders the soul visible through form.