I Wayan Gde Yudane & ensemble Wrdhi Swaram (Bali) - Cynthia Verpoorten

Traditional dance and music from Bali

The performance was 9 December in the theatre ‘De Singel’ in Antwerp, Belgium.
This was a performance to see another culture, it gave a look to the traditional dance and music from Bali.

The title prefers to a Balinese composer and musician. He comes from Denpasar, but with an international reputation. His work introduces new approaches from the gamalan. Tradition and contemporary are meeting each other. 

Gamelan, instrument

In this piece there were twenty-two musicians and three dancers.  The piece contains three traditional dances. It started with a music part what sounded strong, it gave a whole new energy to the room. The musicians had a strong bond with each other, they were continuously looking around but also focusing on their own instrument.

 Jauk Longor dance

After the intro it was time for the Jauk Longor dance, it’s a classical solo that give the impression to movements from a demon. At the beginning it gave a ‘wow’ feeling, because the costume is so defined, with lot of details and we are not used to the movements. So, you try to understand and take everything what you see. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oXfSKnYk6U

Later came another solo named as Topeng Tua, this is about an old man, and you need a lot of technique skills.  After the first solo you begin to understand the traditional movements and music. It’s interesting to see how the technique is, but it’s also difficult to watch and understand it if you don’t know anything about the dance techniques.

After was a duet ‘Legong Semarandhana’, it tells a story about Semara and Ratih two god’s that represents the sexual love. 

This duet was lovely to watch, it was also the first time that you see the girls dancing instead of the male solo’s from before. The duet was without masks, so the make-up and eyes became important.
This duet gave another point of view to the dance technique and culture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siICiYS5NkQ

On the video you see, the dance they performed but then as a duet.

The piece became strong because you meet another culture. The costumes of the dancers where special and not easy to dance with. They are wearing a lot of layers and that makes it harder. You can see on the pictures as on the video that their dance technique is based on their costume, so they easily deal with their costumes, it’s a big part of their culture.

The music itself was also traditional, if you’re not used to real traditional music from Bali, then is this a nice experience.