Long, long time ago Balinese dance was not as rich as today, there was no beautiful Legong, nor dramatic topeng, Balinese could only boast of trance dance such as Sanghyang Memedi or Sanghyang Dedari, no conscious dance existed.

One day Kaki Semara observed some little girls who were dancing, completely in trance, without ever having had dancing instruction. A Sanghyang they sometimes had to serve as a repository for god in the temple, when he deigned to take his place within them. They were not yet approaching puberty, lived a chaste and pure life and were therefore holy, which made them suitable for this task.

Though Kaki Semara was impressed by the girls, he wondered how their dance could be made more conscious and artistic. And he decided to make it more concentrated in parts by having the girls dance a particular pattern twice instead of ten times in a row and adding new, enhancing dance accents unknown up to that time. He was so pleased with the results that he continued to look for elements that would make the dance even richer in movement.

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Putri Bali Villa offer 8 villas categorized into one, two, three and four bedrooms villas. All which an experience in style, artfully blends modern and traditional elements.

Each villa features a private entrance, private swimming pool and garden, living room with satellite TV and multi stereo system, dining room and fully equipped kitchen.

The room facilities include satellite TV, air conditioning, IDD phone, hot and cold running water, bathtub, safe deposit box, hairdryer and slipper.

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The first day of Classical Dance and Drama Performance (9/27/2007) was a kind of traveling back to the forgotten era of Balinese dance and drama performance. The performances which took place in Art Centre Denpasar, began at 7:30 PM, on an open stage, luckily no there was no rain pouring down.

The first performance that night was Leko dance from Jembrana regency. Leko is a type of social dance, may be a flirtation dance as a matter of fact, the ancestor of widely popular Joged Bumbung dance. In old days, Leko was a palace dance, designed for the entertainment of the king, nowadays it is a popular social dance that anybody can enjoy and participate. It is performed by a pairs of female dancers and usually involves the audience.

The Leko performance that night was surely an entertainment, a pair of beautiful dancers danced with the accompaniment of rindik (an ensemble in which the instruments are made of bamboo) orchestra.

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Here a nice piece on Clifford and Hildred Geertz experience when dealing with Balinese.

Early in April of 1958, my wife and I arrived, malarial and diffident, in a Balinese village we intended, as anthropologists, to study. A small place, about five hundred people, and relatively remote, it was its own world. We were intruders, professional ones, and the villagers dealt with us as Balinese seem always to deal with people not part of their life who yet press themselves upon them: as though we were not there. For them, and to a degree for ourselves, we were nonpersons, specters, invisible men.

We moved into an extended family compound (that had been arranged before through the provincial government) belonging to one of the four major factions in village life. But except for our landlord and the village chief, whose cousin and brother-in-law he was, everyone ignored us in a way only a Balinese can do. As we wandered around, uncertain, wistful, eager to please, people seemed to look right through us with a gaze focused several yards behind us on some more actual stone or tree. Almost nobody greeted us; but nobody scowled or said anything unpleasant to us either, which would have been almost as satisfactory.

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Villa Blanca is located on the west side of the Petanu river (one kilometre south of Goa Gajah, the famous Elephant Cave), just east of Ubud (only 5 minutes by car).

At 250 meters above sea level, some 50 meters higher than Ubud, the days are breezy and the nights cool (no air conditioning is needed)

Immediately across the river is a complex of small temple and bathing areas including several lovely waterfalls. Early mornings and late afternoons offer cheerful scenes of communal bathing.

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