Festival recreates Tirtagangga image

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.