RHYTHMIX CULTURAL WORKS

Rhythmix Island Arts Festival Featuring Gamelan Sekar Jaya: Music and Dance of Bali

With special guest director: I Made Subandi & Guest dancer: Luh Andarawati from Bali!

When: Friday, November 2, 2012

Where: Rhythmix Cultural Works,
2513 Blanding Avenue, Alameda

Time: 7:30PM

Cost:  $20 advance, $25 at the door, $15 students/seniors

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All Ages Welcome

Enjoy an evening performance bursting with sparkling melodies, shimmering timbres, refined beauty and tempestuous drama of Balinese gamelan and dance.
Gamelan Sekar Jaya returns to Rhythmix Cultural Works’ stage to feature world-renowned Balinese artist I Made Subandi, who will lead 45 gamelan musicians on three unique gamelan ensembles— the sweetly shimmering four-tone gamelan angklung; the delicate and virtuosic gendér wayang quartet; and Bali's most famous type of gamelan, the gong kebyar—complete with gongs, flutes, and drums. They will be joined by Sekar Jaya’s Balinese dance ensemble with Luh Andarawati (GSJ Guest Dance Teacher) who will lead company dancers in both traditional and contemporary Balinese dance works. Treat yourself to an evening of complex interlocking rhythms and the virtuosic ensemble sensibility of Balinese music and dance.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s music and dance range from traditional Balinese repertoire to cutting-edge compositions. The sixty plus company of musicians and dancers of GSJ play on several sets of Balinese instruments, consisting of various combinations of bronze-keyed metallophones, bamboo marimbas, gongs, drums, and flutes. Gamelan Sekar Jaya is the only foreign group to ever receive the Dharma Kusuma, Bali's highest award for artistic achievement. The company is renowned for its exploration of traditional and modern forms through long-term residencies with Bali's finest musicians and dancers. Formed in 1979, the orchestra has performed in various settings and venues from the bustling village squares in Bali to the famed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
 

I MADE SUBANDI, GSJ's Guest Music Director, is one of Bali's most internationally recognized modern composers. Known for his love of experimentation, he is in high demand internationally for his innovative compositions. He is a graduate of Bali’s National Institute of the Arts (STSI Denpasar) and has taught for many years at the Indonesian Academy of Performing Arts (SMKI) in Bali.

Luh Andarawati, GSJ Guest Dance Teacher, from the Balinese village of Banda, began her study of Balinese dance at the young age five with Ketut Sumantra, and has studied with many master dance teachers including Ni Ketut Arini, Tjokorda Istri Putra Padmini, Bapak Kranca, Bapak Cerita, I Wayan Budiarsa, I Nyoman Wenten, and many others. She is currently a leading company dancer and dance teacher in Gamelan Sekar Jaya, and has just recently returned from an intensive study & performance tour in Bali.

This concert made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

**Members of Gamelan Sekar Jaya and Balinese Master Artist-in-Residence I Made Subandi will also be teaching a Kecak & Gamelan Angklung Workshop at Girls Inc. of the Island City before the concert. 

Kecak or "cak" originated as a form of music that brought together villages in Bali during times of epidemic or strife to bring spiritual and physical well-being to the community. It has developed into a creative performance form, but still maintains a powerful spiritual practice in some villages, and brings a feeling of strengthened community and well-being to performers and audience alike wherever it is practiced. Master artist Pak Subandi, with assistance from Sekar Jaya members, will teach students the fundamental structures, interlocking rhythmic patterns, and accompanying movement that characterizes this incredibly energetic and collaborative tradition. Students will also gain hands-on experience playing Balinese gamelan music using four-keyed bronze angklung instruments.

This workshop made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

This event is wheelchair accessible.