Happy Galungan!

Happy Galungan everybody! Bali has been alive with activity (more than usual, as it is generally a hum of activity daily)- school's out, families are reuniting, temples and compounds are being decorated, and ceremonies are aplenty. Today I'm going to go check out some of the festivities at a neighbouring village.

So, a lot has been happening the past few days. My last kecak class (before the performance on Friday), my last mask carving class with Nyoman, and a general wrapping up of things before the final stretch.

On Sunday morning, I went to visit Newman. He is a leather mask maker who lives here in Bali, and has been making masks for decades, selling all over the world. He studied leather saddle work in the states, wood mask-carving in Bali with I.B. Anom, and traditional Commedia mask making from Amleto Satori in Italy. He has a unique and specific way of making, which is a combination of a traditional method mixed and his own technical/craft skill.

He talked through his process in his studio/home, working the leather with his hands whilst chatting about his travels, experiences, and life lessons.

Newman's workspace (small, simple, efficient)...

Step One: Drawing! Very important,very underrated...


Plaster cast (from an ex-girlfriend's face) which he uses as a base for all his masks (the face that launched a thousand...masks...)


This is the wooden copy of the plaster version...


This leather comes from the belly of the cow. It is vegetable tanned (which keeps it firm, and avoids ikky chemical preserves in artificial tanners)...



This is the stuff he uses to build the features up...


Working the putty over the face to create the sculpture to build off...


For this particular mask, Newman used a pre-existing mould (i.e. didn't built a sculpture) of an Arlicchino.

Checking the size of the leather on the face...


Once the leather is in the water, it is soft and mailable...

Soft soft leather (after its taken a dip in the water)...


Chopping off the extra leather around the nose...


Shaping the leather over the wooden mould (a clamp to hold the nose in place)...


Cutting the edge of the leather to create tabs to then tie the leather down...


The back of the mask, laced (it looks complicated, it's a simple pattern in which there must be an even distribution of tension. Like tightening screws on a snare drum)...


Detail of the lacing...


The initial shaping over the face (check out the nose flab)...


Using the cow horn mallet to create indentation in the leather (which can then be smoothed, or kept to create texture)...


Now, the masks, masks, masks...


Undyed leather masks, ready to have a wee paint job...



Neutral masks, animal half masks, penis nose masks...


Noses! Beautiful, beautiful noses...



Shelves of Commedia masks (check the Arlicchino shelf)...


Wooden 'face-horns' (moulds) that the leather fits over (N.B. Carved by local Balinese wood carvers)...


Shelves of masks and wooden plates...


More animal masks...The different leather dyes Newman uses (spraying them with an airgun)...


Neutral masks(quite different to Satori's)...


The man in the mask....


His masks are to die for, I really could have spent days in there listening to the stories and trying on all the Zanni. A real pleasure.

Another night, another show...

Last night it rained so hard I thought I was going to get sucked into a drain and spat out somewhere in India. But before that, I had a wonderful night at Puri Agung Peliatan Palace, watching a superb performance by Gunung Sari.


Their orchestra are the guys that took Gamelan to the world- performing at the Expo in Paris in 1931 (of which Debussy was very taken by, using the pentatonic scale and Balinese motifs in most of his piano preludes from there on in, e.g. Girl with the Flaxen Hair). (N.B. that half finished B.Mus has come in handy). Anyway, they were tight- together, attentive, alive, present. They accompanied all the dancing for the evening. This is the groupd Ibu Ayu performs with (one of our dance teachers) pictured here....

The evening started with the Kapiraja (The Overture).

Then the first dance of the evening: the Pendet (Welcome Dance). Originally a dance dedicated to temple ceremonies. There were five women, each dancing in unison. They were beautiful. An explosion of colour (their costumes were reels and reels of Balinese printed fabric in gold, yellow, pink, orange) and movement (so much articulation in the fingers, eyes, and feet).

Then came the Baris (dance of the young soldier). A boy of maybe 14 or 15, he demonstrated passion and aggression, and yet a soft boyishness, almost a quality of nervousness. He would shimmy and make all the little gold fringes on his head piece shiver and sway.

The thrid dance was the most interesting: the Kebyar Terompong (also known as Kebyar Duduk). It was a male dancer, dressed and dancing in imitation of a woman. In effect, Balinese drag. It was FABULOUS. He came out with a whirl, did a little routine, then pulled out some mallets and played the trompong. At one stage, he dropped one of the mallets, went down to pick it up, and when he re-emerged was holding a fan instead.

I can see where Gareth Farr might be influenced not only by the music of Bali but the dance performance culture as well (I'm thinking Drumdrag and Lilith LaCroix, incase the reference is lost).

I had no idea there were exchanges of gender in Balinese dance (although Friday night’s Kecak performance saw Rama being played by a woman). On further reading, this dance was developed by an I Nyoman Mario, pictured in 1940 here, perhaps Bali's first Drag queen?...

It was first performed in 1925, although to picture him here 15 years later doesn't add up. You can read more about the dance here...

The centre piece of the show (for my money) was Legong Lasem (the story of King Lasem). It is too complicated to retell the narrative, but it started with a solo female dancer. She was fierce- sharp, fluid, fast- her eyes like darts.

She was then joined by two others, the three of them dancing their butts off (that’s when the Gamelan really stepped it up).

She later came back with golden wings (transforming herself into a protection bird) and flew around the stage, like a crazy hummingbird. It was pretty intense.

After another music interlude (Gambang Suling), came Oleg Tambulilingan (Dance of the Courtship for Bees). This was danced by Ibu Ayu. She had a real maturity to her dancing- grace, charm, sensuality. She doesn’t look a day over 16 (although she is in her late 20’s with three kids under 9!).

She was then joined by Mr Bali 2012. The pas de deux’d up a storm (without the Torvil and Dean overhead lifts).

The sky started to make some noise, so the last part of the program went speedily. It was the Barong’s turn! It’s like a forest dwelling holy animal. A cross between a snuffaluffagus...

...a Chinese Lion Dance...

...and a pantomime horse (a Balinese panto horse, that is)....

He double took, shook his wee head, and snapped his mouth at the audience. Then he sat down for a rest, and a monkey came out.

Now, you know I love monkeys as much as the next guy, but because I have high expectations, this monkey just didn’t cut it. He was too modern and lazy, not athletic and stylized like I usually like my monkeys. Hah, you only need to take a stroll through Monkey Forest in Ubud to see the likeness, considering all the monkeys there make a living off stealing tourist’s shit and exchanging it for food. So perhaps it was a clever comment on society. Anyway. He did eat a couple of bananas on stage though, and played a fun game with the Barong.

Then out came the Rangda (a sea dwelling witch). Pretty scary dude, a scraggy white mane, massive bulging eyes, and long red fingers. Looks like this...

Opps, I mean this...

I didn’t get a decent picture because it started to pour as he came out. Barong and Rangda always work together, in duality (left and right, strong and weak). Good and Evil might I stress, not Good and Bad (the Balinese system does not acknowledge Good as good and Evil as bad. It just is).

By the time they did their thing, the heavens opened up, and I got drenched. It was well worth it though. The show was like a variety concert of sorts, very polished, attractive, and well worth the 100,000 IRP ($14 NZD).