Rehearsals are often as interesting as the actual performance, because that is the moment that dancers and gamelan have to work together to produce the polished performance. Unlike western orchestral music, the dancers are not treated like instruments under the command of the conductor but are autonomous. So rehearsal requires a delicate adjustment, especially between the lead drummer and the dancer. As you will see from the photographs below, where possible the musicians are actually watching the dancer and adjusting their timing accordingly.

The gamelan here is Gong Kebyar Tiga Bintang owned and led by Gaston Sylvestre (in the yellow shirt playing the ugal - the tall metallophone in the centre) and under the artistic direction of Andy Channing (drum, right). the rehearsal was for a concert of Gamelan balinais, musique traditionnelle at the Festival International des Musiques d'Aujourd'hui on 14th. May 2007 at the Friche la Belle de Mai, Marseille. The photographs are of the rehearsal of Baris Tunggal, which was rechoreographed from temple dances for males to become one of the great virtuoso solo dances. While it is usually danced by males, in Bali top professional females dance and teach male roles as well as female ones.