A big religious ceremony in Bali is always marked by the presence of a sunari, a tall bamboo flute made of a long bamboo pole. Two varieties of bamboo tiying (bamboo) tamblang and tiying gading are commonly used to make a sunari. Sunari is made by drilling holes on the bamboo; the holes in the sunari are not round, but are a series of precise shapes carved into the bamboo in a specific order. Sometimes the holes resemble hollow lines, stars, or crosses, crescents, teardrops, etc, the numbers and shapes of holes determine the kind of the sunari.

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New York’s BALAM Dance Theatre & Bali’s Semara Ratih Gamelan Ensemble Join Forces for a collaborative performance Saturday, August 12, 2006 at Pura Dalem, Ubud.

BALAM Dance Theatre, a contemporary dance company inspired by Balinese theatre was founded in 1979 by Islene Pinder and later joined by co-artistic director, Carlos Fittante. BALAM fuses the expressive details of Balinese dance with athletic boldness of Contemporary Western movement. This collaborative performances is an outgrowth of BALAM’s enduring relationship with the renowned Semara Ratih Gamelan.

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Young Indian Culture Group, Inc - Sruti Youth Ensemble
29^th JUNE 2006, Ksirarnawa Stage 20.00 PM

Ramavana Dharma Saagara The Ocean of Dharma in the Ramayana

It is a unique compilation of Music, Dance and Storytelling, capturing the Ramayana tradition, which has an infinite appeal to people of all ages. This is a celebration of Valmiki Ramayana. We bring a small amount of water from its rich ocean of values and experiences. The Ramayana is tilled with compelling dialogues, addressing universal issues of love, sorrow, fear, adventure, anger, greed. We bring some of the famous episodes in the Ramayana to you and they bring Dharma alive.

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