In accordance with the celebration of Valentine day, today’s article will talk nothing but love and to ensure that this article will talk nothing but love, I will not write anything, instead, I invite you to enjoy the most popular love story in Bali, The story of Jayaprana and Layonsari.

Jayaprana dance by Lila Bhawa dance troupe on Bali Arts Festival 2006

A long time ago in the kingdom of Kalianget, a small village in North Bali, there lived a powerful king, whose name has long been forgotten. It happened that an epidemic struck the whole village, killing most of the villagers. One of the few survivors was a little boy called I Nyoman Jayaprana, the only person in his family to have been spared from the disease.

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We, Lila Cita, a Balinese gamelan group, along with Lila Bhawa, our sister Dance group, have just returned to London, UK, from our first Bali tour. The participation for the 28th PKB, Bali Arts Festival, was the main achievement of our trip, but during our two and a half weeks together on this magical island, we have collectively seen, done and learnt so much both musically and culturally. Thanks to our Balinese hosts and music/dance teachers (plus warm-hearted audience), our performances also succeeded beyond our expectations. http://blog.baliwww.com is full of interesting articles and beautiful visual data, especially relating to arts. The daily photo collection of PKB in the photo gallery are great asset to anyone interested in Balinese music and dance. We particularly treasure the set of photos which accompanied the article of our own PKB performance. Without enough resources, we couldn’t arrange a photographer to record our important stage. Please visit our homepage lilacita.com to see the rest of the collection BALIwww.COM kindly let us use.

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Gamelan Lila Cita and the Lila Bhawa Dance Troupe from London, UK will make their Bali debut at the Pesta Kesenian Bali this evening, July 8 at 8.00 pm at the Wantilan in the Taman Budaya Arts Centre in Denpasar. As well as traditional pieces like Sekar Jagat and Kebyar Duduk, the group will perform new pieces by Balinese and British composers. Lila Cita is the first foreign group to perform on the gamelan Semar Pegulingan at the PKB and their repertoire will feature two new pieces composed for the group by I Nengah Susila with choreography by Lila Bhawa Artistic Director, Ni Madé Pujawati. Ni Madé will perform her most recent composition Candra Kirana and (with Lila Bhawa dancer Melanie Knowles) will also perform a new version of her acclaimed Jayaprana, which had its European premiere at The Place theatre in London in 2005. The concert will also feature the world premiere of Bali-Sugriwa, a new dance piece with choreography by I Wayan Dibia and music by Wayan Dibia and I Nengah Susila.

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