Contact Us  Subscribe  COUPONS 
Back to the top

2023 Asia Pacific Dance Festival
Asia Pacific Dance Festival
We are back this summer with another fabulous Asia Pacific Dance Festival. Join us on July 8th and 9th for a weekend of Balinese gamelan music and dance workshops and performances.
Balinese Gamelan Music and Dance Workshops and Performance
Saturday, July 8th and Sunday, July 9th
Free and Open To the Public
Register Here


Introduction to Balinese Gamelan Music and Dance Workshops
For beginner and intermediate students. No experience in Balinese music and dance required. Families welcome.
Back to the top
Saturday, July 8
9:00am -12:00pm: Dance Workshop, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Music Building Room 118
1:00pm - 4:00pm: Gamelan Music Workshop, East-West Center Hale Halawai 
4:30pm - 5:30pm: Talk Story: Introduction to Balinese Music and Dance, East-West Center Hale Halawai
Talk and Workshops Lead By:
I Made Widana: Lecturer, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Department of Theatre and Dance; Artistic Director, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Balinese Gamelan Music and Dance Ensemble

Annie Reynolds, PhD: Assistant Director, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Balinese Gamelan Music and Dance Ensemble; Exhibitions and Collections Curator, East-West Center
Taksu (Radiance): An Evening of Balinese Gamelan Music and Dance
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Balinese Gamelan Music and Dance Ensemble
Sunday, July 9, 6:00 pm East-West Center Friendship Circle

Taksu is a Sanskrit Hindu Balinese word and concept roughly translatable to “inner energy” or “creative soul” or “creative genius” typically thought of as an external entity that chooses a performer to be its vessel. So when a performer has that certain something you can’t quite describe, sometimes even one with less technical prowess than another, but they really captured your eyes and attention as they perform at a particular moment in time, you say “Oh, they have taksu.”

This performance will feature instrumental music performed on live gamelan instruments and dances performed to prerecorded music. This presentation marks the first performance by the ensemble following a 3-year hiatus due to COVID.

Balinese performing arts are well-known internationally for their virtuosity and dynamic character. In Bali, musicians and dancers work together to create highly unified performances where the music and dance are interrelated and inseparable. Much of the Balinese gamelan music and dance repertoire has its roots in Balinese Hindu ritual and ceremonial performance.
Dance
Balinese dance movements are largely depictions of characters. The different stylized movements—often inspired by nature and ranging from fluid and graceful to sharp and staccato—are external expressions of the internal quality of a particular character. 

Traditional dances feature well-known characters, often from Hindu epics and members of historical Balinese royalty. Stock character types span a continuum from refined male and female characters (
halus) to strong male and female characters (keras) and even ranging to the unrefined, coarse demonic figures (kasar). Character type is presented and communicated to the audience through agem, a foundational posture in which the whole body— position of the feet, torso, shoulders, arms, and fingers, as well as facial expression—is stylized according to the character portrayed. Characters have their own stylized walks, gestures, and signature movements.

Gamelan
Gamelan is the traditional music of Indonesia, especially developed in signature styles and genres in Java and Bali. The term gamelan refers to both the ensemble and the specific instruments played. A gamelan ensemble is comprised of various sized and registered bronze-keyed, bamboo resonator metallophones, hanging gongs, double-headed drums, and other percussion and melodic instruments, such as a two-stringed bowed instrument and bamboo flutes. Traditionally, the music is taught by ear, through repetition, without the use of notation. Balinese music is based on repeating melodies that are punctuated by gongs and elaborated by instruments in the higher registers. Unlike the Western symphony orchestra, gamelan musicians commonly play multiple instruments. Each Balinese gamelan instrument set is uniquely tuned, and each keyed instrument has a counterpart-the instruments are tuned in pairs so that one unison tone is comprised of two slightly off-tuned notes producing a lively, shimmering sound. High-register metallophone instruments that elaborate the melody play interlocking melodic and rhythmic patterns. The tuning and the technique of elaboration add to the shimmering effect and aesthetic of the music. Instead of a conductor, the ensemble is led by the head drummer who cues the musicians, communicating when to start, stop, and make dynamic and tempo changes.

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Balinese Gamelan Music and Dance Ensemble

Since 2009, I Made Widana, a professional musician, composer, and dancer from Bali, has been teaching the ensemble with both music and dance programs. Performances by the ensemble include the 2013 A Night in Bali at Leeward Community College, featuring classical and traditional music and dance repertoire, and the 2016 Subali-Sugriwa: Battle of the Monkey Kings and 2020 The Last King of Bali, both large-scale shadow theatre production presented by the Asian Theatre Program at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Kennedy Theatre. Currently the ensemble performs on the Gamelan Semara Pegulingan Taksu Gitaning Shanti, a full set of gamelan instruments hand-crafted by mater instrument maker I Wayan Sukerta of Blahbatuh village, Bali. The instruments arrived in Hawai‘i in 2018 and are the property of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Center for Southeast Asian Studies. The 25 troupe members are a diverse mixture of university students, faculty, and members of the greater O‘ahu community, who believe in promoting cross-cultural understanding through the arts. The ensemble incudes a music and dance program for families and children.

ref no:16868

Like Our Facebook


  • HONOREES &
    RELATED LINKS
  • Kaimuki Hawaii.Com Home Page
    View our featured events, news, businesses and primary links on our home page.
  • Featured Sponsors Offers
    Great offers from our sponsors who support the Kaimuki Honolulu, Hawaii community. More...
  • Kaimuki Hawaii Directory
    View Kaimuki, Hawaii primary directories. businesses, non profits, public, government and jobs.
  • Calendar
    Check out things to do in Kaimuki on the calendar of events.
  • News
    Keep up with the latest news and happenings in your Kaimuki community.
  • Kaimuki Hawaii Featured Pages
    View our directory of feature pages showcasing all the great things Kaimuki, Honolulu, Hawaii has to offer. Go Green in Kaimuki, restaurants, shopping, WiFi Hot Spots, fitness, health, real estate, home and garden, 80+ more directories... More...

Please send questions about this website to
Copyright© 2005 - 2023 KaimukiHawaii.com. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use / Legal Disclaimer / Privacy Statement
Site Designed and Managed by MacBusiness Consulting