Gamelan Bali (Balinese Gamelan) - Traditional Music

Bali Island is one of the thousands islands constructing the Indonesian Archipelago that has long been famous as a leading tourist destination in South Pacific or even in the world for its exotic and vibrant art and culture, natural beauties and the hospitality of the people.

Balinese Gamelan music is similar to Javanese Gamelan music. The music is in cycle too, however, it is usually faster. One of the characteristic of Balinese gamelan music is that, it has a lot of sudden changes in tempo and dynamics. Like the Javanese gamelan, the instruments in Balinese gamelan includes metallophones and gongs. However, there are more metallophones than gongs in Balinese gamelan. The metal keys in Balinese metallophones are ticker than those of Javanese. These Balinese metallophones produce very bright sound. Another characteristic of Balinese Gamelan music is the used of cymbals. These cymbals create fast rattling sound that usually cannot be found in Javanese Gamelan music.

For more information please visit these web pages :
http://www.squidoo.com/-traditional-gamelan-music
http://sinisterfrog.com/writings/gamelan

The warrior Balinese Dance

baraka

Kecak dance

The Kecak is also known as the Monkey Chant and has been created by the German artist Walter Spies together with the Balinese dancer Wayan Limbak in the 1930’s.

Together they came up with a dance that was both authentic to Balinese traditions but also easily understandable to western tourists.

 The roots of this dance are found in Sanghyang, a trance, exorcism Bali dance…you don’t have to worry though except for the burning coconuts.



Temple site where the performance is held...



The Kecak dance is mainly held in the evening on a temple site in Ubud and Uluwatu temple.

During the day on Monkey Forest Road in Ubud and especially near the market you’ll bump into many of the sellers that have their hands full with flyers.

When I first checked out one of the flyers I thought ‘Cool, I might want to check it out one day’ and before I put the flyer in my pocket the seller politely told me that the flyer is also the entrance ticket to the dance.

OK, my mistake, so I took out the 50.000 rupiah to see the Kecak and was in for a surprise…



The priest blesses the dance before it starts...



Once I arrived I saw three long rows of plastic chairs lined up for the dance and I thought I was almost the only one in town.

They filled up quickly and before I knew the ritual started with bare-chested men coming down the temple stairs, wearing checked cloth around their waist and making monkey sounds.

It immediately gets your attention and the whole temple setting with fierce-looking statues, old trees and the sound of crickets add to the experience...

The men sit in a circle around flickering oil lamps and they move their bodies and sway their hands on the sounds of their voices following the story of Ramayana.






The Ramayana tells the story of Prince Rama who wants to rescue his kidnapped wife Sita from the hands of the evil Rawana, King of Lanka. The Prince asks the General of the Monkey Army, Hanoman, for help.

It is a typical story between good and evil described by performers who wear colourful masks, are beautifully dressed and dance gracefully.











Among the group of men is a story teller, usually one of the older men. With his low strong voice he tells you the story…however don’t worry if you seem the only one who doesn’t understand his mumbles.

It just sounds nice and it makes the whole story more poetic and dramatic.

If you want to know more about the story, have a look on the flyer,which is your entrance ticket. There's a detailed summary of the performance included.

After the Kecak dance ends someone performs a Sanghyang Jaran trance dance and rides on a wooden horse through burning coconut shells sending embers through the sky. Be careful of flying coconut shells.




The Sanghyang Jaran Trance dance



The Hindu priest is there to help the man get out of his trance and this amazing performance ends.

map of bali

Map by wiki

5th Annual BaliSpirit Festival!

March 28 – April 1, 2012

Set in the spectacular grounds of the Purnati Center for the Arts in Batuan, just 10 minutes south of Ubud, the daytime workshops and Dharma Fair enjoy a venue unmatched for its tropical beauty and gentle energy. The global music concerts take place in Ubud, at the Agung Rai Museum of Art's (ARMA) outdoor stage, to allow easy access for visitors and locals. This unique series of concerts features and knits together the distinctive traditional rhythms of Africa, Indonesia and Australia with the contemporary music of the rest of the world.

Now in its 5th year, the Festival brings together 100s of celebrated musicians, yogis and dancers from every continent and also become a magnet for fans, students and followers of every calling. Weeks before the Festival, Ubud begins to fill with a colorful international tribe of young people gathering in anticipation of one of the world's most inspiring events.

Daphne Tse

Daphne is a soulful singer/songwriter originally from Texas, now based in Bali, Indonesia. Since her initial yoga class fifteen years ago, she has merged her spiritual practice with her contemporary folk singer/songwriter style.

She studied music at the University of Texas in Austin, The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and kirtan music with Jai Uttal. Daphne is blessed to travel the world sharing her music. She has released music on Shiva Rea’s yoga music compilations, Jala & Nataraja. Her solo CD, Mata, was released in 2008.

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Daphne enjoys exploring all aspects of Art from music to painting to photography & writing. Originally from Texas, she started singing at a young age and explored different genres of music through her college years. After graduation from college, she relocated to Los Angeles and was inspired after listening to Shawn Colvin's "Live '88" album to pick up the guitar and start writing songs.

Since her initial yoga class almost 15 years ago, she has merged her spiritual practice with her contemporary folk singer/songwriter style. She studied music at The University of Texas at Austin, The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and kirtan music with Jai Uttal and Daniel Paul in Guatemala. She has travelled extensively sharing her music in Europe, North America, Central America, Asia and beyond.

Daphne is inspired by her yoga practice, her travels and the diverse, compassionate human beings she meets worldwide to continue creating and sharing her soulful blend of folk/pop/spiritual music. She is committed to expanding consciousness on the planet through global community events focusing on music, yoga, dance and all forms of art that inspire peace in action.

She has released music on Shiva Rea's yoga music compilations, Jala and Nataraja. Her recent solo EP, Mata, was released in 2008. She is currently traveling and being inspired to write songs for her new album.

Daphne fell in love with yoga when a close friend introduced her to Ali MacGraw & Erich Schiffman’s yoga tape, one home practice and she was hooked. While living in Los Angeles she dove into the yoga world for over 9 years (working with Yogaworks and then with Shiva Rea and Yogadventures). She is inspired by her friend and teacher, Shiva, with whom she has studied with & taken teacher trainings with over the years. She completed her foundational training at Sacred Movement in Venice in 2004. Initially specializing in kids yoga, she found joy & light working with little people and began branching out and teaching students of all ages. She also embraces the teachings of Erich Schiffman, Mark Whitwell and Ammachi in her daily practice. Daphne is currently touring sharing her soulful teachings around the globe with grace and joy for living life fully.