To seriously study dance, inquire at one of the institutes in or near
Denpasar which have been set up to teach, preserve, and promote Balinese
artisitic traditions: SMKI (Sekolah Menengah Karawitan Indonesia) in Batubulan;
KOKAR (High School of Performing Arts); STSI (Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia).
For long-term study, you have to have a permit
from LIPI in Jakarta as a "guest student" because you can't learn
much with a 60-day entry visa. Wayan, the proprietor of Siti Homestay (Br.
Kalah, tel. 0361-975599) in Peliatan (near Ubud), can help you obtain a
long-term study visa.
For the short term, it's more rewarding to
take up study on an informal basis in one of the villages for several weeks.
A great number of Westerners study in the Ubud/Peliatan area. Saba and
Batuan (Gianyar Regency) also have very strong dance traditions.
The best way to find a dance teacher is to
first find a style you like by watching performances, then approach the
dancer directly for lessons. Or ask your hotel or homestay proprietor if
they know of any dance teachers who take Western students. The excellent
teachers tend to get overrun with Westerners.
To hire an older teacher, you'll need to
know Indonesian. Be sure to see one of these mature teachers in action
as they lead five-year-olds through intricate stances and postures, thrusting
their bodies and arms doggedly and relentlessly into position until the
complicated movements are letter-perfect. You can see these seasoned taskmasters
at work every Sunday and Thursday 1400-1600 in front of the Tanjung Sari
Hotel in Sanur.
The average dance course lasts one to two
years, and it takes at least three years more to become proficient. SMKI
will charge foreigners around Rp5000 an hour, but it's negotiable. They
can perhaps arrange for you to participate in a dance lesson on a trial
basis. Dance accoutrements, costumes, and paraphernalia are available from
two roadside shops outside Pasar Seni in Sukawati.
At STSI, along with traditional classical
Balinese dance, there are sometimes classes in Javanese dance, Indian dance,
and American modern dance, ballet, and choreography. With its 30 masters-traditional
dancers, musicians, and puppeteers-this school is beginning to make headway
in its effort to create new choreography. Yayasan Siddha Mahan, in Sideman
(Karangasem), is another center for dance and music.
Dance Festivals
SMKI often holds dance festivals, as does the Galleria in Nusa Dua;
ask the tourist office. But the biggest dance event is the Bali Arts
Festival (Pesta Keseni Bali), held from June to July each year. Launched
in 1979 to foster Balinese artistic creativity while at the same time stimulating
tourism, this monumental, five-week-long series of presentations draws
huge crowds to the 5,000-seat Werdi Budaya Art Centre of Denpasar (Jl.
Nusa Indah) almost nightly.
The atmosphere is similar to the bustle of
a big odalan-like a three-ring circus of the arts! The Balinese
themselves make up the main part of the audience. Sellout audiences are
the rule at the island-wide gamelan competitions and elaborately
staged new sendratari productions put on by teams of Bali's top
musicans and dancers. The wide variety of programs includes ancient court
dramas and dances that have been revived. Unusual offerings at the 1995
festival included bumbung gebyog, tektekan, and joged. Programs
are available from Denpasar's tourist office.