Dancer Ni Cawan recalls her golden days of the 1930s<\/p>\n
By Intan Petersen<\/p>\n
DENPASAR (JP): The eerie tones of the gamelan and the echo
\nfrom a nearby temple ceremony filled the air. Tonight was a full
\nmoon and the old dancer, Ni Cawan, sat quietly at home. She
\nimagined the dancers moving and twisting their bodies to the
\nsounds of the gamelan.<\/p>\n
\"I am jealous,\" she hissed, with tears in her eyes. \"I always
\nfeel sad whenever I hear the gamelan. It is not easy to be an ex-
\ndancer, I cannot sleep when I hear that sound.\"<\/p>\n
For more than 50 years she had devoted her life to dancing.
\nShe is still obsessed with it, but today, at the age of 73, Ni
\nCawan can hardly move her hands or the slim fingers which were
\nonce recognized by many. Rheumatism has limited her movement.<\/p>\n
Cawan was one of the first three Balinese dancers to receive a
\ntalent award from the late president Sukarno. She is the only one
\nof the three who is still alive. Her dancing partner, Ni Sadri,
\nhas passed away, as has the legendary kebyar duduk dancer, I
\nMario of Tabanan.<\/p>\n
Cawan's name is always mentioned when one talks about Bali
\nduring the 1930s. Bali was widely recognized as an artist's Mecca
\nat that time, when western painters and Balinese dancers mixed in
\nthe same circles.<\/p>\n
In the 1930s, Cawan was a beautiful young dancer and a
\nfavorite model for many of the western painters who lived on the
\nisland. They included William Hofker, Emilio Ambron and, slightly
\nearlier, Walter Spies, all of whom popularized Bali with the
\ninternational art world.<\/p>\n
Other painters living on the island at that time were Romualdo
\nLocatelli from Italy, Theo Meier from Switzerland, Roland
\nStrasser from Austria, and Le Mayeur, a Belgian painter who
\nmarried the beautiful Balinese dancer, Ni Polok. All of them
\nspread Bali's fame through their paintings, which now bring
\nhandsome prices at auction.<\/p>\n
Cawan lives in a cool, spacious old Balinese house in the
\ncenter of Denpasar. The shrieking laughter of her grandchildren
\nand the babble of an unwatched television fill the house.
\nBarefoot and wearing an old simple kebaya, Cawan sat at the
\nterrace and began to tell me her story.<\/p>\n
\"It all started with the opening of the Bali Hotel in 1928,
\nthe first hotel in Bali. It was then that dancing became a
\nregular attraction for tourists,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Dancing led her to fame and brought her to the attention of
\nHofker and the other painters.<\/p>\n
\"It was a tiring job (modeling). Sometimes it took them two
\nweeks to finish one painting, for which I was paid 15 rupiah,\"
\nshe said, referring to a time when 15 rupiah was considered a lot
\nof money.<\/p>\n
Like all Balinese dancers, Cawan started dancing at temple
\nceremonies. She was believed to possess taksu, a form of
\nsupernatural attraction that pertains more to inspiration from
\nthe gods than earthly knowledge. Balinese dance is regarded as an
\noffering to the gods and also as entertainment for the people.<\/p>\n
\"Me and my dancing partner, Ni Sadri, were purified during a
\nmewinten mejayajaya ceremony before we formally became dancing
\npartners. The pedanda (Balinese priest) prayed for us in the
\nceremony and made offerings. At that time I was 13 years old, a
\nlittle girl,\" she said with a smile.<\/p>\n
Both Cawan and Ni Sadri were the stars of the Kedaton Dance
\nGroup, then the best legong dance group in Bali. Both dancers
\nhelped spread the fame of Balinese dance through their
\nperformances -- sponsored by the Royal Dutch Packetboat Company,
\nBali's first tourism agency -- every Saturday night at the Bali
\nHotel.<\/p>\n
When talking about Sadri, Cawan's eyes dimmed.<\/p>\n
\"Sadri has passed away\" she said. \"We were amazingly close to
\neach other. We had a relationship that most people could never
\nhave. It is not just an assumption of ego on my part. I knew her
\nverbal thoughts, her silent thoughts. There were a lot of things
\ngoing on between us that were silent: it was dance, it was the
\nsound of the gamelan, it was destiny.<\/p>\n
\"Sadri lived in the North Village and I lived in the South
\nVillage,\" she said. \"We were very close, closer than sisters.\"<\/p>\n
According to one of Cawan's students, Arini, Cawan was once
\nfrustrated because Sadri stopped dancing after she got married.<\/p>\n
\"Sadri married when she was 16 years old, and then she stopped
\ndancing completely. That frustrated Cawan because she did not
\nhave a partner anymore,\" said Arini, who now owns a dance school
\nin Denpasar.<\/p>\n
That is when Cawan began performing the solo Panji Semirang
\ndance, recalled Arini.<\/p>\n
\"Her performances were marvelous and she became famous. She
\ncontinued to perform the dance, even after she had three
\nchildren,\" Arini continued.<\/p>\n
But few knew of Cawan's frustrations about losing a partner.
\nThis, said Arini, was not told in the paintings for which she
\nmodeled.<\/p>\n
One of Hofker's paintings with Cawan as model fetched
\nUS$550,000 at a Christie's Singapore auction last April.<\/p>\n
\"Yes, I know that\" she said. \"But I have no paintings of
\nmyself. I realize that regret is to no avail, but I don't even
\nhave enough money to go to the hospital, while a painting with me
\nas the model has been auctioned for $550,000.<\/p>\n
\"Even though I am very poor, I have made the best I can in my
\nlife. Now I am ready if Ida Hyang Widhi (God) calls me.\"<\/p>\n
She sighed. Her eyes looked slightly hazy behind her glasses,
\nbut she still radiated dignity. In the distance, the eerie sound
\nof the gamelan echoed from a temple village festival. Suddenly,
\nCawan's eyes closed shut, she must be tired.<\/p>",
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