What is the Betawi dance?

The Betawi dance form or ‘Topeng Betawi’ is an art form of the people living in Java and Bali in Indonesia. The name comes from Batavia, the old Dutch name for the city of Jakarta. It can be used to describe both theatre and dance, with the performers sometimes wearing masks. A performance can include a mix of dialogue, song, comedy, dance and music, beginning with dance but could include dialogue later. They are sometimes performed by a female singer-dancer and a male clown. Music is provided by a small ensemble of bronze idiophones, drums called gendang, and a two-string spike fiddle called a rebab.