Dances are parts of celebrations, and mark important times of life such as birth s, weddings and funerals.

They are parts of festivities at times of planting and harvesting of rice, and other important events. There are many different types and styles of dances. They are Court, Martial, Ma sk dances. The dances of the different island vary. Men and women seldom perform together, except in courtship dances. generally dancers will be either men or w omen. Indonesian dances are slow, with very controlled movements. The dancers's arm and hand movement are very important. The court dances are very formal in style. Dancers keep their faces without any expressions, and perform precise gestures. Some dances reflect the pomp and form ality of the court. Some dances tell stories from the Ramayana, the Hindu holy b ook. Martial dances are generally performed only by men. They were originally war dan ces and in come the men demonstrade their skill in using the weapons of battle, such as spears. Some dances involve the use of elaborate masks. It is believed thet when a dance r wears a mask, he takes on the character of the mask as though the spirit of th e mask takes over. Each island has different mask dances, and different styles o f masks.