Quest University's first-ever multicultural day offers Squamish residents the unique opportunity to experience Balinese music and dance up close and personal.
Gamelan Gita Asmara ("Gamelan of the Song of Love"), a Vancouver ensemble of 25 musicians performing traditional and contemporary music of Bali, Indonesia, will be one of the featured performers for the event, which takes place in the Quest University multi-purpose room on Saturday (April 16).
Playing a variety of instruments, known as gamelan, the performers will use an ensemble of bronze gongs, metallophones and drums in a concert of Balinese music and dance.
Comprised of local performers dedicated to the arts of Bali, the group is joined by Balinese guests I Wayan Sudirana (musical director) and Ni Putu Widiantini (dance director), as well as special guest dancer Dewa Ayu Eka Putri, who is coming from Bali especially for the performance.
Sudirana is a graduate of the ISI Balinese Arts Institute and a member of Gamelan Çudamani. He is one of Bali's most gifted young musicians, has composed and taught actively all over the island of Bali and toured abroad frequently. He has been co-director of Gita Asmara since 2004.
I Nyoman Wenten, a celebrated Balinese performer of masked dances, and guest dancers Shoko Yamamuro and Keiko Ninomiya also join the group. Based at UBC, the group prepares the complex music in the traditional manner of memorization and intensive rehearsal over many months. The combined effect of the music, dance, instruments and costumes is dazzling, giving the concert the ability to appeal to people of all ages.
Twentieth-century Balinese music developed in two equally dynamic directions - the fiery kebyar and the refined legong styles.
Next week's performance explores both styles. Opening with the unpredictable dynamism of Wayan Sudirana's new instrumental composition, Sembur Tangi, the concert continues with Sekar Jagat, a dance of offering and welcome. Dewa Ayu Eka Putri then brings to life the classical Tari Condong in the legong style. Next, Nyoman Wenten interprets the subtle and refined Arsawijaya, the masked dance of a refined king, and the intense interlocking melodies of the kebyar style are demonstrated in the instrumental Sekar Gendot. The concert concludes with Putu Widiantini and Shoko Yamamuro's performance of the dazzling kebyar classic Oleg Tumulilingan, an intricate duet depicting two flirtatious bumble bees in a garden of flowers.
The Balinese dance show begins at 7 p.m. and tickets cost $15 for adults and $5 for students. The ensemble will also be presenting a dance workshop for locals to learn the moves on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m.
For more information on the event or to register for the dance workshop, contact event organizer Laurel Parsons at [email protected].
