Balinesedance

Balinese Dance Workshop the Centre National de Creation Musicale Marseille May 2007

Balinese dance may be taught quite easily through workshops by experienced teachers. Although it is a tradition entirely separate from Western dance, it is possible to learn some of the basic movements and postures in a relatively short time and to use them by themselves or in combination with other dance and theatre styles to create a performance.

Here Ni Madé Pujawati is teaching an introductory dance class to members of the Tiga Bintang gamelan group in Marseille who have never studied Balinese dance before. By the end, they were creating their own dance sequences.

 
Explaining the organization of a workshop, which consists in explaining Balinese dance, loosening up exercises and work on dance movements. After that students put the movements together themselves, then do cooling down exercises, followed by questions and discussion

 
Demonstrating the basic dance posture for the arms used in much Balinese dance

 
Ngègol - walking while swinging hips, used especially in female dance style and the hallmark of feminine Balinese dance. This movement is exceptionally good exercise for the pelvis and lower back

 
Malpal - the strong walking style distinctive of male dance in Bali. this exercise strengthens the thigh, leg and lower back muscles.

 
Majalan - the basic dance walk used in most dance

 

Ukel - rotating the wrists. This movement when executed well with a fan in the hand gives the impression of the wrist turning round like a spinnng top. It is a notable feature of female Balinese dance

 
After learning basic movements, the workshop divides into groups, which experiment putting the movements together in their own style - here they are doing malpal

 
Another group putting movements together - here left posture with knees bent
Nepuk dada - a gesture used in many dances

 

 

All photographs are of Ni Madé Pujawati.

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