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Learning to Perform

Everyone learns by watching and copying. Here, in Bali, it takes a more active form, especially on the teacher's part. In dance, a teacher molds the pupil's body to her own so that every nuance of the style can be absorbed by the student. In music, the teacher sits on the opposite side of the instrument and plays it backwards while teaching! The whole learning process is a community event. Rehearsals take place in the bale banjar or community hall for all to observe.

Said to be the incarnation of the late Ketut Madra of Sukawati, I Made Gede Panji Prameswara, Madra's grandson, manipulates the shadow puppets of the Wayang Kulit with ease.

A Part of Daily Life

The integration of the arts into Balinese daily life is one of the great beauties of this culture. Children begin learning at an early age. They hear the gamelan music while still in the womb, and as babies, held in a family member's lap, they are encouraged to dance with their hands before they can walk. The arts are not something locked away in a studio to be brought out for public viewing only when finished. On the contrary, rehearsals are held at the bale banjar for all to see, comment on and criticize. Women set up small food stalls and sell their goods to the audience and passersby. Mistakes provoke laughter, yet this is all part of the learning process. Young dancers cannot be embarrassed by a crowd's watchful eyes. If they make an error, they will be corrected in public during a rehearsal, and receive critical comments from family members, neighbors and onlookers. This toughens them for performance.

Children begin formal study at around seven years old, although some might start earlier. They find themselves performing before an audience even before they have perfected their musical or dancing abilities. This is intentional and teaches them humility. Moreover, the purpose of the performance is not perfection but an offering to their ancestral deities and gods and goddesses. The intention and feeling with which it is performed is most important. School recitals and other performances in the community give students a chance "to show their stuff" and gain confidence.

A child born into an artistic family begins to learn at home by simple observation and imitation, then by more formal lessons with one of the family members. Children go along to performances with relatives to help them dress, make up and prepare for the show. In this way, they learn not only about movement, but about the whole context of dance, theater and music. A village can be famous for a particular art form, such as Gambuh, Arja or Legong, and the teachers there are sought out by other performers.

Manipulation of the limbs is one of the keys to absorbing the style of the teacher. Left to right: I Ketut Maria (Mario), one of Bali's best known choreographers and dancers in the 1920s, teaching Kebyar Duduk. The suppleness of his limbs extends to that of his pupil; I Nyoman Kakul teaching his young grandson Ketut Wirtawan the Baris dance, 1974.1 Made Jimat teaching a young girl in the 1990s.

Sekaa or Clubs

In many villages, there are numerous gamelan or music and dance clubs (sekaa). These groups usually consist of about fifty members who all voluntarily support the activities of the gamelan club. There are many types of sekaa but the groups described here are specifically for gamelan or music and dance. Within the sekaa are musicians, dancers, managers, costumers and drivers. They are paid for their services; most of the money goes into a communal kitty, and the rest is divided up among the members. There is fierce pride within the sekaa as well as friendly competition among rival groups. A performer also may perform independently of the sekaa. Dancers and actors who belong to different sekaa may be asked to perform together on occasion for dance-dramas such as Arja, Topeng and Drama Gong. This one-time ensemble is called a bon group. Therefore, a sponsor can hand-pick the group of actors and dancers.

There are social organizations that promote artistic endeavors. The banjar or local hamlet often owns a gamelan orchestra that can be played at any time, a fact that children may take advantage of. If they have a sekaa, weekly rehearsals are set and all members are obliged to attend. There are usually performances at local village functions, such as at temple festivals, where the sekaa will show off its latest pieces.

Aside from the traditional sekaa, there are now sanggar or dance and music studios. These first started to sprout up in the city of Denpasar due to the demand at the time for dance lessons. The onset of tourism provided further opportunities for performing and teachers became in great demand. There are usually one or two well-known teachers in the sanggar and dancers study specific dances in order of difficulty. At the end of each level, a certificate is awarded along with a public performance. If you can get to one of these "graduation" ceremonies, it is great fun as the entire family usually shows up to cheer on their progeny. The students perform in full costume and make-up, oftentimes with a full gamelan orchestra, sometimes to a cassette tape.

A Typical Dance Class

Traditionally, dance is learned without mirrors. The child first mimics the form of the teacher. Once she has memorized the basic movement patterns, her teacher then moves behind and manipulates her limbs, at times making total body contact. In this way, the body feels what it is supposed to do and how it should place itself without needing to look in a mirror. Teachers today are much less strict than thirty years ago when the rule was to pound (sometimes literally with a stick!) the dance into the pupil. If that happened today, there would be few students in dance classes.

Ni Ketut Arini Alit teaching at home. Without mirrors to guide them, the students must move exactly as the teacher does.

Ni Ketut Arini Alit manipulates the arms of her pupil, at the same time kicking her feet into the correct position.

"Men" Sena of Tista teaching Legong. Fine adjustments for arm placements let the student know how to move properly.

Physical Learning

The Balinese way of teaching is unique. A beginning dance student stands behind the teacher and mimics the movements. The teacher sings the melody of the gamelan, gives drum and gong cues as well as calls out the names of steps and basic instructions. "Get that elbow up!" "Bring your body closer to the ground." Once the basic choreography is learned, the teacher moves behind to mold the student's body. This enables the student to feel exactly where the wrist and elbow should be placed and how the back is aligned. Traditionally, mirrors were not used so the student had to rely on this kinesthetic transference of energy to know how to move. The teacher kicks the students' feet up and jerks their heads from one side to another. It is a very physical way of learning.

The method of teaching music is quite similar. At first, teacher and student sit facing one another, each with his or her own instrument. The teacher plays "backwards" while the student mirrors the hand motions. At times the teacher kneels behind the student and actually moves the hands to the correct position on the instrument. It is possible to know who a performer studied with simply by their style, as traditionally a student learns from only one teacher. There are particular teachers so well-known for the "results" that they draw out of their students that people come from great distances to study with them. Prior to Indonesia's independence in 1945, it was common for teachers to travel to another village and live for months at a time to teach the locals there music, dance, singing or puppetry.

Ni Ketut Arini Alit teaching dance on the television program "Bina Tari" in 1980. Beginning in the late 1970s, "how to learn dance" shows began cropping up on local TV stations. This has had an impact on the standardization of dance throughout the island.

Sanghyang dancers being blessed before performing to ensure that trance will occur. Dancers who perform for religious rituals will, at the very least, be blessed with holy water at the performance site. Alternatively, they will pray at the local temple.

Formal Learning

Since the 1960s, it has been possible for the more serious student to specialize in one of three fields—dance, music or shadow puppetry—at SMKI (Sekolah Menengah Karawitan Indonesia or High School of Performing Arts) or at ISI (Institut Seni Indonesia or Indonesian Arts Institute). SMKI was formed in 1960 with the purpose of producing teachers who would return to their villages and help develop the performing arts. ISI began in 1967 as ASTI (Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia or the Indonesian Dance Academy) and is still often called that although its status changed to the College of Indonesian Arts (Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia or STSI) in 1988 and to ISI in 2003.

The original goal of SMKI (then KOKAR) was to create teachers as well as to preserve traditional forms and develop new ones. Graduates brought back to their village what they had learned, and local versions were neglected and eventually forgotten. Students at both schools are extremely well trained in a variety of art forms with a myriad of teachers so they no longer follow one teacher's style, but have the "school" style.

During the Soeharto era (1966-98), ASTI/STSI/ISI became known as the Super-Sekaa because it was called upon by the central government in Jakarta to produce extravaganzas with hundreds of performers. Since the economic crisis of 1998, those performances have faded into memory. Some of the most innovative performance comes out of STSI today. Composers are given free rein to create and are encouraged to collaborate with other musicians and performance artists from all over the world (see pp. 102-3).

Visitors are welcome on the campuses. Classes are held Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. See Resource Guide for details (see p. 105).

The Role of Television in Learning

The latest "teacher" is television. Once a week, a show called "Bina Tari" (Preserving Dance) is aired on the local TVRI station in Denpasar. Started by Ni Ketut Arini Alit in 1979, it demonstrated basic steps and some of the more popular dances so people in remote villages could learn them as well. Today it is carried on by the popular teacher I Nyoman Suarsa. As not everyone has a gamelan in their banjar, cassettes have become a popular way to learn. "How to learn" cassettes repeat the same song over and over again, making it easy to practice the dances. Needless to say, this has assisted in the standardization process.

Rituals for Dancers

Traditionally, a serious student of dance has a number of rituals to observe. The first is the mesakapan where the student becomes "married" to the mask or head-dress (gelungan) of the particular dance form being studied. Often this ritual is performed for a gamelan club to marry musicians to instruments so they will feel just like a family and their playing will be compact and harmonious.

Melaspas is a ritual to purify a new object and transform the original material into a new entity. For example, a headdress made of leather now becomes a performer's crown. The wood of a mask is reborn as a personage. The object's status changes from ordinary to sacred. Often a dancer takes those objects to a priest to be blessed in a ceremony called pasupati, in which they are infused with magical power. From that time onward, the object must not touch the impure ground and must be handled with reverence.

Mewinten is a ritual to purify a person rather than an object. The person gains a higher status. There are various levels of mewinten. Those who want to learn the sacred songs and stories in the traditional palm leaf manuscripts (lontar) must go through a mewinten. Dalang or puppeteers are purified in a number of mewinten, as they are considered to be priests once they have completed their training. This ritual enables the performer to become one with the object (headdress, mask, puppet or instrument). The three levels are mewinten alit (simple purification) with flowers; mewinten madya (middle purification), usually performed inside a temple, and the final stage is mewinten agung (large purification) that consists of staying three to four days in a temple and being blessed with copious amounts of holy water and offerings. This is usually reserved for priests, but Topeng Pajegan (solo mask) dancers are encouraged to complete all three.

Preparing for a Performance

Serious performers recite a number of prayers before they perform. According to I Ketut Kodi, a well-known dalang and Topeng actor, before performing he first prays at home in his family temple where he asks for taksu (spiritual energy) for his performance to be a success. At the performance site, he prays to the deity residing in the local temple and receives holy water. Before going on stage or beginning his puppet show, he asks the inhabitants of the space for their permission for the performance. The many spirits lurking about which can cause mischief must be placated. Then he blesses the objects he will use (masks and puppets) with simple offerings, invoking their spirit. At the conclusion of the show, he conducts another small ceremony to send the spirits back home.

Probably no more than three or four years old, this young male Kebyar dancer, at his first recital, has already mastered the basic stance and moves.

Final exam for Kebyar Duduk at the Warini dance studio, Art Centre, Denpasar. Part of learning dance is performing in front of your peers and family in a very public space. These events are open to the public and often televised on one of the two local Balinese television stations. Aside from the pride of being on stage, there is always the chance of snagging a trophy for being in the top three!

Before the first notes of a concert are struck, the gamelan must be blessed, usually by the local priest or someone in the gamelan group itself. The spirit of the large gong is invoked so that good sounds will be produced. All of the musicians are blessed with holy water. The instruments are believed to have souls and must not be stepped over.

A dalang also performs numerous rituals on the day of a performance. On leaving the house, mantras or prayers are said. Before entering the stage area, he notices out of which nostril his breath is strongest: if the right, Brahma will perform, if the left, Wisnu, and if equal, Iswara or Siwa will do the honors. Once behind the screen, offerings are made, the space is sprinkled with holy water and the gods are asked to descend to witness the performance.

For those performers involved in more magically dangerous roles, such as Rangda, along with the men and women who may try to stab her (see pp. 70-5), there are certain prohibitions they must abide by for 24 hours prior to the ritual. These include not eating certain foods, abstaining from sexual relations and avoiding a corpse.