Festival recreates Tirtagangga image

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Tirtagangga, Bali

Accomplished, youthful-looking Hawaiian choreographer Peter "Tau" Rockford Espiritu accurately described the atmosphere sensed by most participants taking part in the recent three-day Tirtagangga Art Event.

"It is history in the making. I believe there was a mixture between traditional and modern culture happening. I think it also showed where the world is today, as there are a lot of problems of people fighting. But at the same time, I believe that through art, it is possible to heal our world. This event is being held at Tirtagangga Water Palace, the fountains of which are believed to possess healing qualities, all I can say is that during a full moon, it is magical. It has changed me, as a person and an artist," he said solemnly.

The atmosphere was, indeed, magical. One only had to look into the clear night sky where the full moon glowed warmly and then gaze into the tranquil pools of Tirtagangga, where the moon's reflection slowly danced on the water's surface, to realize that one was in a very special place.

The magical atmosphere of the event, held from Sept. 20 to Sept. 22, was further enhanced by excellent performances of artists from Bali, Australia, Thailand and Hawaii.

John Seed, the founder of the Rainforest Information Center, graced the first evening of the event by performing his songs, full with compassionate love for nature. This bearded and soft- spoken environmentalist, whose concerts have been acclaimed at numerous places around the globe, poured out his heart, urging human beings to stop considering themselves the sole master of the earth, and instead start viewing themselves as just a small part of the whole beautiful order of nature.

An energetic performance of the Balinese traditional court dance of Legong by Ayu Bulantrisna Djelantik, the granddaughter of the king who built Tirtagangga, kicked off on the second night of the event. Her beaming face, majestic posture and lively energy spellbound the audience, and at the same blurred the fact that this renowned dancer, arguably one of the best Legong master's alive, is 55 years old, which some people find hard to believe.

"I am old, I am a Nini (grandmother). I danced here in Tirtagangga with mixed emotions, a combination of happiness and melancholy. Dozens of years ago, when I was just a little girl, I performed the now lost Kebyar Condong here. That memory, and the memory of my beloved grandfather, who was the first person to suggest that I should take dance lessons, flashed several times in my mind during my show this afternoon," she said.

Later in the evening, artists from Chiang Mai University gave the audience a chance to savor several traditional dances and musical pieces of northern Thailand's distinct Lanna style. Two dancers, Thirayud and Waewdao, and a musician, Thitipol, showed their excellent artistic skills and great stamina in performing at least eight dances.

They topped off their show by inviting all of the audience to join them in the animated spirit dance. The audience joined in and turned the dance, which was supposed to be a dramatic trance dance, into an exuberant event, where everybody danced their own moves and immersed themselves in the pervading joyful mood of the night.

"Lanna was once an independent kingdom in the area between Irawadi and Mekong river. The Lanna people and culture spread as far as South China, Laos, eastern Burma, North Vietnam. They speak the same dialect, eat the same food and adhere to the same belief system. This culture, known as Khao Nieo (sticky rice) culture, which is essentially different from southern Thailand culture," the university's Ajarn (Prof.) Vithi Phanichphant, who led the Thai performers, said.

Yet, the majority of the audience apparently agreed, judging from the long and clamorous applause they gave, that the highlight of the second night was the performance by the 39-year- old Peter "Tau" Rockford Espiritu, a handsome Polynesian, who mixed the elegance of modern ballet with the intoxicating charm of the traditional hula dance.

The talented Rockford regularly skipped his high school classes for hula lessons, earned a full scholarship at the prestigious American School of Ballet in New York in the early 1980s. He currently leads the Tau Dance Theater, a world-class modern dance troupe, and in the last five years he has choreographed more than 30 new dances.

"I have prepared five dances for this event, but after spending 10 days in Bali and realizing how much Bali reminds me of home, literally and philosophically, I feel at home here, I decided to perform my 20-year-old signature piece Me Ke Aloha Kuu Home O Kahaluu (My Love for My Home in Kahaluu)," he said.

The piece depicts his devotion to and longing for his Hawaiian spiritual and cultural roots in a series of graceful and slow- paced movements, which mesmerized and touched the audience with a deep sense of beauty and melancholy.

"Hawaiian culture has no written language, so through hula dance, it's movements and chants, we retell and preserve our history, important past events and great figures. In this sense, hula is a very sacred and symbolic dance," Rockford said.

"I really like his performance. He's able to create something contemporary without sacrificing the spirit of traditional Hawaii. More importantly, he enlightened and showed us that hula has a deep spiritual meaning and function, and is not just an entertaining dance," dancer Bulantrisna Djelantik said.

The event was also graced by hula dance performances by Kumu Hula Victoria Holt Takamine and Lauryn Po'ai Gallindo, the Ubud- based Rucina Ballinger's Hula troupe, and a musical performance by the Sol-Kin.

Workshops on Balinese, Thai and Hawaiian Hula were held on the last day of the event.

Initiated by Dr Daniel Sussot, a close friend of the Karangasem royal family that owns the Tirtagangga, the event aimed at recreating the image of Tirtagangga as an art hub.

"I am touched by the spirit of brotherhood shown by all the involved participants, and I hope we will find a way to stage this event on a regular basis," Bulantrisna said.