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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This year, Lila Cita has been invited to perform at the prestigious Bali Arts Festival. This festival, known locally as Pesta Kesenian Bali or PKB, is the biggest showcase of Balinese visual and performing arts and is now in its 28th year. For a whole month (17 June to 15 July), artists and performers from all over Bali and selected groups from other countries will pack the busy daily programme. Have a look at the last year’s PKB programme.

Lila Cita will be on stage in Denpasar at 8pm on 8 July 2006. We will be playing both Gamelan Gong Kebyar and Gamelan Semar Pagulingan and will be the first foreign group ever to play Gamelan Semar Pagulingan at the Bali Arts Festival.

More information visit http://www.lilacita.com/

On Sunday night at 8 pm, I was privy to see one of the most amazing dance performances ever in Bali. Spearheaded by Didik Nini Thowok, a former student of Gung Raka Saba (one of the greatest Legong teachers last century) in conjunction with Anak Agung Rai Saba, Ace Robin and Nunik Anurningsih supported by Maharani Records, four major legong dances were performed.

It began with Condong, followed by Bapang (performed by Didik and Dewi, a Senior teacher as well), Lasem Lengkap, Chandra Kanta and Semara Dhana. The dancers were, I assume, all from Saba (now, watch I¹ll be told they were all from ISI!). Aside from being in Legong heaven, the Pelegongan gamelan was sweet and superb (all new I was told) with most of the musicians younger rather than older, which is a tribute to the regeneration efforts in Saba.

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