September 27, 2002: Volume 56, Number 3

Master dancers of Bali on campus Oct. 7, 8

The Master Dancers of Bali, featuring eight of the Indonesian island's most celebrated dancers and musicians, will perform on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 8 p.m. in Union College's Yulman Theater.

Cost is $5, free to members of the Union community. For more information, call the box office at 388-6545.

The troupe will be on campus for two days, doing a number of lectures and demonstrations on Monday, Oct. 7, and Tuesday, Oct. 8, which are free and open to the public. (A complete listing of workshops appears below.)

Under the direction of Mr. I Gusti Raka Pinji Tisna, the Master Dancers of Bali capture the magic of their island with a program of five traditional dances and selected Balinese operas, all with gloriously colorful costumes and live traditional Balinese music.

Master Dancers of Bali is an eight-performer troupe of some of the island's most accomplished and highly regarded dance masters, who will perform together for the first time outside of Bali. The performers range in age from 30 to 80, and span three generations within the same family. Ms. Ni Ketut Cenik, 80, is the most experienced traditional Balinese dancer performing. She has been awarded the highest honors in the performing arts by the local Balinese government as well as by the Ministry of Culture of Indonesia.

"(In the West) we require our dancers to retire when they can no longer do the technical feats of their youth," said Gail George, who is organizing the group's visit at Union. "In Bali, as elsewhere in the East, they not only value, but revere, their older master performers. Ms. Ni Ketut Cenik is a wonder to behold."

For a listing of workshops and discussions, see the on-line press release.

The program is supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, Unitas, East Asian Studies, Performing Arts Department, Minerva Committee, Dean of Students Office, and the Anthropology Department at Union College.

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