The Gamelan Çudamani performance combined the music of uniquely crafted Balinese instruments along with the act of dance to tell several stories surrounding various aspects of nature. For me, this was the first time I was able to witness a performance familiar to this—and I’m glad I did! It began with a composition being played by the group. The instruments they used were unlike anything I had seen before. It was then followed up by an introduction to the upcoming acts by a female member of the group. She explained to us that there would be several stories portrayed through dance and the playing of instruments. The stories revolved around topics such as water, animals, and the philosophy of life. Each dance or composition was carefully crafted by members of the group. Some of the dances were choreographed by another female artist. It was later explained that this was a very progressive step in the feminist direction because very rarely had women ever been a main part of the creativity process. Almost immediately after the initial introduction, the members of the Çudamani troop took off with their playing. They consistently changed the volume and rhythm of the music they were creating to help evoke emotion and to give us viewers an idea of how the characters were supposed to be feeling at that time of the performance. For example, one of the stories discussed a disagreement between a group and at one point there was clearly tension amongst the characters present in the scene. The volume increased dramatically and the music became a lot more intense. This aided in creating a sense of tone for the scene. I was immensely impressed by the groups’ ability to have every single note memorized and at their capability to remain in such direct sync with each other.
In my opinion, I feel as though we were assigned to attend this performance because it covers every
category present in the title of our class (Media, Culture, and Identity). It was announced at one point that Çudamani was experimenting with digital content which coincides with media. In addition, there was clearly a since of pride in the Balinese culture present amongst the Çudamani members. They seemed to be throughly enjoying themselves and couldn’t contain their smiles while granted the opportunity to play. The pride in their culture also directly correlates to identity. The intense facial expressions, costumes, and intricate footwork served as outlets of the Balinese ways of life.
During the last act of the night, the audience was told to join in by cheering as the residents of Bali would have typically done during a performance similar to this. In that moment, we were invited into their culture and ultimately became a bonding experience. Overall, the performance served as an educational moment that allowed for me to gain a better understanding of a place I had very little experience with prior.