A "topeng" is a mask and the word "keras" literally means hard, forceful or aggressive. In the Balinese Topeng Keras, the masked dancer is supposed to represent a character with "keras" qualities. This dance comes from the Topeng Pajegan genre which is essentially a one-man show of contrasting masked character types. The Topeng Keras is just one character type a dancer might perform while performing Topeng Pajegan.
