HK students enliven Bebarungan festival
HK students enliven Bebarungan festival
Rita A.Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Blah Batu, Gianyar
In Bali, there is no day that goes by without some kind of ritual, music and dance; three things that spiritually enrich the island and touch every aspect of the lives of the Balinese.
And regular music and dance festivals in Bali do not only involve local artists, but also foreigners.
At the Bebarungan festival last weekend, hundreds of local artists, along with arts students from Hong Kong, enlivened the two-day event, with performances of gamelan music and dance. The festival was held at Wantial Pura Puseh Temple in the village of Bona, Blahbatu in Gianyar regency, some 25 kilometers south of Denpasar.
"This is a public party. This festival embraces all members of the community," said Agung Alit, head of Sanggar Bona Alit, the festival's organizer.
Two gamelan orchestras and dance groups from the neighboring villages of Ubud and Pinda Blahbatu became the stars of the festival with their presentation of two different gamelan musical styles, both modern and classical.
Other gamelan orchestra groups were also convincing. And the players didn't just come from Bona or other adjacent villages but also from Hong Kong.
Donned in intricate yellow lace kebaya traditional blouses teamed with elaborate endek woven clothes, as many as 20 female students from the Hong Kong University of Arts eloquently played each of the gamelan instruments and produced quite harmonious sounds and melodies.
"They are all my students who were eager to come to Bali and learn about Balinese culture," said Agung Alit, who is now a lecturer of Balinese arts and music at the Hong Kong University of Arts and Hong Kong's Academy of Performing Arts.
Members of a Hong Kong television crew were also seen busy seeking the right angles to record the event.
"It is probably a good promotion for Bali and its cultural activities because they will broadcast the event in Hong Kong, Australia and other countries," Agung said.
"It may be a good chance for us to promote Bali and attract visitors from Hong Kong and the mainland China at the same time," added Agung.
But, for Agung Alit, luring people to Bali was not his main intention. "What concerns me most is enlivening and encouraging pure arts festivals at all villages in Bali."
Currently, most cultural events are centralized in Denpasar, the island's capital.
"Bali has a myriad of music and dance styles from each region. Each village has its own distinctive style," he said.
He cited jegog gamelan, the musical trademark of Jembrana in West Bali, as an example. In this style, the gamelan orchestra is dominated by bamboo instruments, which vary in size and sound.
"Gamelan jegog performances should be held in Jembrana, instead of Denpasar, in order to encourage the creativity of local musicians and boost the region's cultural activities," Agung said.
"Bali is not just Denpasar. If you want to know about Balinese culture, you have to see cultural performances taking place at lots of various locations across the island," he added,
During the Bebarungan festival, Agung also organized collaborative arts performances involving painter Made Kedol Subrata and a group of child dancers.
A rare wayang prembon (Balinese wooden puppet) was also presented. Sanggar Bona Alit gamelan orchestra accompanied the performance, cleverly blending Balinese ethnic music with contemporary elements.
"I am so grateful that a lot of my colleagues have fully supported the festival. However, despite the widespread promotion of Balinese culture and tourism, no government official paid attention to this event, which is a pity," Agung Alit added.