The company is composed of 22 dancers, dancers and musicians and is directed by I Made Djimat, unanimously recognised as the best custodian and interpreter of Balinese dance-theatre, already a guest of the Oriente Occidente Festival in 1984.
At the Zandonai will be presented for the first time in Europe the Gambuh, the island's oldest dance-drama, a court dance accompanied by the archaic sound of long bamboo flutes and which usually lasts for several hours narrating the stories taken from the Malat, a cycle of Javanese epic narratives on the exploits of the hero Panji. Only three villages in Bali guard this enormous heritage and one of them is Batuan, the village of the Panti Pusaka Budaya group, a stronghold of respect and continuity of tradition.
In the Piazza del Grano, the Company will perform a parade followed by the Penyambrana (the delicate opening dance of each show), the Teruna Djaia (belonging to the Kebyar style, the new musical form that became popular in Bali from the 1920s onwards), the Baris (the warrior dance) and the Topeng (the mask dance reminiscent of the characters and types of the Commedia dell'Arte).
For some time now, Bali, a small island in the Sunda archipelago (Indonesia), has revealed the magical enchantment and absolute charm of its theatre: from the dazzling visions of Artaud and his cultural ‘discovery’ in the 1930s, to the great East-West encounter/confrontation that marks the evolution of the contemporary scene.
Among the great theatres of oriental traditions, Bali is a unique and extraordinary gem: the vibrant hieratic beauty of its dance acts on all the senses through a pure scenic language, admirably fused with sweet and overwhelming music. But what is surprising in our times is that while the impact of the West and tourism has in many places disrupted, destroyed or transformed, in the best cases, what was ritual into an artistic product, in Bali a living tradition has flexibly and fruitfully resisted the assaults of history, so that its theatre (ritual and profane but always popular) as a blossoming tree with firm roots, stretched between tradition and creation, constantly coats its forms with vibrant energy. Nothing to do with cold museum reconstructions or folkloristic gimmicks for tourists.
Enno Nuy
Interculture Foundation
