Workshops, classes and residencies for schools and colleges

Our workshops and classes provide an introduction to Balinese or Javanese dance, as well as insights into wider aspects of the culture and performing arts of these Indonesian islands. We also offer workshops in Balinese theatre which involves a range of the following: acting, dance, music or vocal chant (Kècak), story-telling, puppetry, masked dance and singing.

We can come to you for one day, for a series of days or for a regular programme over several weeks or a term. Workshops will be tailored to your students' particular needs.

We aim to offer an enjoyable and creative experience in a safe and supportive environment. Our teachers have Criminal Records Bureau clearance.

Workshops and residencies

Our workshops introduce children to basic principles of Balinese or Javanese dance and theatre appropriate to Key Stage levels, and look at how character can be portrayed through stylized movement.

Workshop themes and content can often be tailored to fit in with other school projects. We can also provide suggestions for preparation, follow-up and related craft and design work. We can work with whole classes or smaller groups. The length of sessions can be tailored according to the age and needs of the children and the constraints of the timetable.

For Key Stages 1 and 2, for example, we often work with dances based on animal characters (such as deer, monkey, bird, butterfly) or archetypal figures (such as the warrior, the demon, the heroine, the hero).

Workshop programmes will usually include opportunities to show work; this could be on an informal basis within the group (for one-off workshops) or in front of an invited audience (for bigger projects). For longer residencies, it may be possible to arrange related activities such as gamelan music, puppetry, etc.

The Hindu epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are important elements of the performing arts of Bali and Java. We can offer workshops and linked performances which focus on these stories, designed for specific levels.

Residencies offer the possibility of broader and more intensive learning leading to a range of outcomes designed to expand students' knowledge and experience.

For GCSE, A level and performing arts students

We offer workshops and courses in which students can:

•  learn basic techniques of Balinese or Javanese dance drama

•  learn sequences from specific traditional dances

•  make their own pieces based on this learning

About the dances

Balinese and Javanese dance and drama is always done barefoot. The dances are accompanied by the music of the gamelan , an ensemble of instruments (mostly made of bronze or iron) which includes hanging gongs, metallophones, flute, etc, and is led by a drummer.

Dance dramas may portray a single character or be used to tell a story. In Bali and Java, dance has a much more important place culturally than it does in Europe, because it involves both dance and theatre. Everyone knows the main stories and dance styles, dance drama is a form of both popular and high culture, and good dancers receive widespread public recognition of the kind given elsewhere to pop stars and sporting celebrities.

About our teachers

We work with a small group of highly experienced teachers of dance, music and drama, selected according to the requirements of the project in question. We recognize that Indonesian performance will be new to almost all students. So, where appropriate, we provide cultural and artistic background, including audio-visual materials, to help make the performance work an enjoyable part of students' general intellectual development.

The senior teacher who leads the classes is Ni Madé Pujawati, who is an internationally renowned specialist in classical Balinese and Javanese dance and drama, as well as being a well known choreographer (CV). As a senior Indonesian performer, Ni Madé Pujawati is able to convey a unique sense and atmosphere of what dance drama is all about.

After moving to London, Ni Madé Pujawati trained in teaching dance in the UK and has extensive experience of teaching dance from kindergarten to university level, in the UK and internationally. She works from students' existing knowledge to try to tap their potential and broader their horizons. Students have a feeling of achievement if they can perform what they have learned, so Ni Madé Pujawati tries where possible to include some kind of final performance, appropriate to the students' abilities.

 

Recent Feedback from Chelmsford County High School for Girls Pupils' Responses Really fun experience; learned a lot; used imagination; entertaining; great; interesting to watch a professional perform. Fun and educational; really good; teacher was nice; couldn't be improved; challenging in many ways. Teacher's Responses