When the gong kebyar composition first appeared in Northern Bali with the avant-garde villages such as Bungkulan, Jagaraga and villages at its vicinity in 1915, No one ever dreamed that this genre of Balinese gamelan become the most favorite kind gamelan to be played by women. As a matter of fact at that time no one would ever dreamed that Balinese women have any chance to play gamelan.

In the past, gamelan is a privilege for men and the involvement of women in the realm of art was restricted in dance and drama performance area. However, in the last three decades, it is important to note that there has been a significant democratization process within the Balinese art world. Women begun to be given wider chance to participate in every genre of Balinese traditional art; and nowadays the once male-dominated art world has been transformed into free for all art domain.

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On July 3, 2005, I saw at Taman Budaya, in Denpasar, two complete Ramayana stories, back to back. One was danced by a Yogyakarta group, and the other one — right after the first one, in a miraculous double-header — by a Balinese group.

They were both very beautiful, each in its own way. And very different.

The Javanese version was slow, elegant, decorous, fluid and meditative; it is a true royal art, a ballet for the king’s court; the Balinese was mincing, nervous, frantic, full of crazy stops and starts, and — hilarious; a folk art: sophisticated but popular.

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