Edan-Edanan Dance is a typical dance of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. It is one of a series of Javanese traditional wedding processions. The dance is rooted in Punakawan. In the world of Wayang (traditional shadow puppet), Punakawan is known as a group of entertainers who can lighten the mood. This dance often appears in Yogyakarta traditional weddings to ward off evil spirits. Generally, this dance is performed by a couple of dancers who wear green kebaya (Indonesian women traditional clothes) and gaudy makeup like a clown.
In the kraton or palace environment, the Edan-Edanan dance is a dance tradition performed in the grand bridal procession. This dance is named Edan-Edanan Kagungan Kraton dance because this dance originally comes from the Kraton. In the wedding procession, dancers will accompany the groom, when he comes out of the knight ward to the golden ward. They will bring feather duster and household utensils with the aim of cleaning the aisle from evil spirits. The Keraton Edan-Edanan dance can only be performed at Kraton weddings. As time goes by, this dance experiences renewal. Dance Art Study Program at Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) Yogyakarta, through Setyastuti, created a new choreography, which does not go out of the elements of the Edan-Edanan Kagungan Kraton dance. The dance is called "Edanan-edanan Nirbaya Dance". "Nir" means rejecting, "Baya" means danger, so this dance is interpreted as a dance that rejects danger either during the wedding procession or after the wedding procession to the marriage life. This dance is performed in pairs, male and female.
In the Edan-Edanan Nirbaya dance, every movement contains a philosophy. The dancer's initial movement is cleaning the aisle, which means cleaning up danger. The next movement is spinning, which means that life is always spinning, the spin becomes the starting point for the next life. The use of dance properties such as sticks containing the symbol of a horse, feather duster and fans have the meaning to ward off something evil. The shawl used by the dancer has a meaning that every flick of the movement is a continuation of life. The closing gesture means that life will continue if the bride and groom can work together. If in the Edan-edanan Kagungan Kraton dance the dancers only accompany the grand bride, then in the Edan-edanan Nirbaya dance, the dancers will dance until the end of the event. Besides warding off misfortune, this dance aims to entertain guests who come in the wedding procession.