Jewel of the World: A Night in Bali

SAN FRANCISCO (JP): The beautiful oleg tambulilingan and dynamic kecak traditional Balinese dances will be performed by 70 dancers and musicians at the prestigious Japan Theater in Los Angeles on May 20 and the Herbst Theater in San Francisco on May 27. The performance, called A Night in Bali, will also feature the gamelan group Barut Wangi from California. The event is headed by Dr. I Made Nyoman Wenten, a professor of Indonesian culture at the California Institute of the Arts and the head of the

Department of World Music at the University of California in Los Angeles. Also involved in organizing the event is the newly established Indonesians for the Development of Education and Arts (IDEA) and the Indonesian communities in Northern and Southern California. The show is the first cultural activity organized by IDEA to raise funds to help Indonesian children continue their schooling.

IDEA was established to raise funds and other assistance to improve education facilities and fund educational activities in Indonesia. The ongoing multidimensional crisis in Indonesia has badly effected the business, education and health sectors since it hit in l997. The crisis has resulted in a great increase in the number of unemployed workers, school dropouts and the poor. Millions of schoolchildren throughout the country have been forced to give up their education because their parents could not afford their school tuitions.

Based on a study jointly conducted by RAND, the University of California in Los Angeles and the University of Indonesia in l998, 38 percent of secondary school students in Indonesia had to leave school and 12 percent of elementary school students were forced to drop out. The current dismaying condition of Indonesia's educational system has drawn the attention of the Indonesian community, students and professionals living in Northern and Southern California.

The funds raised from the performances will be delivered to Indonesian and international organizations such as Care, Bengkel Amal and Permias Los Angeles, and other humanitarian organizations.