Around a week ago, I had the pleasure of viewing a live Gamelan Cudamani performance. This performance entailed many cultural stories and tales of balinese culture. The first act opened with an ‘all-men’ arrangement, with percussionists, as well as a multitude of other instrumentalists. There were 7 men in total and performed synchronously; 6 in the middle, and 1, the lead I presume, sitting in an altar/throne-like chair on the side. Later on, the performance shifts to the tale of a lake goddess, who takes care of a garden. Then, her brother’s boar comes in and demolishes the garden, where in the performance, the boar is seen going around to each plant and killing them. The goddess ultimately kills the boar out of resentment and anger and passes her losses into the ocean, which angers the ocean goddess. Thus, the humans are seen to ask the goddess for forgiveness by bowing on stage towards her. The next tale includes monkeys attempting to build a bridge across an ocean. The monkeys appear to be mischievous and clever, based on their sharp and quick movements on stage. Due to their trouble in their bridge creation, a goddess of water gives them a blessing to help positively influence their bridge building, and ultimately, the monkeys are able to cross the ocean. Finally, the last tale is that of the rice fields, where rather than a tale, it appears to be a collection of memories of balinese culture. Communal uprising is emphasized through this performance, as the actors are seen to be dancing and laughing with each other; this performance was the most interactive out of the three. I believe that this performance is a representation of balinese culture, as well as it is a portrayal of the consumption and production of identity, which in this case, is their culture. The production of identity exists in the performance as the tales told by the movements of the dancers are a direct representation of balinese culture and identity. There is a lot of emphasis on water within the performance, as water is continuously flowing and exists where it shouldn’t. Because of its flexibility, water is what connects everything and everyone, which signifies the balinese notion of camaraderie and bonds. Each act were similar in the way that it involved people, or individuals working together to either solve a problem, or live a better life. Such being, it is easy to say that the idea of a holistic community is prevalent in balinese society. This idea is portrayed through the civilians apologizing to the ocean goddess, the monkeys working together to build a bridge, as well as the farmers working together for a more ‘enjoyable’ life. Thus, the portrayal of identity consumption derives from the audience, such as I, who was able to interpret the performance under my own speculation and perspective. I perceive balinese identity based on my own interpretations of their production of their identity, which is a clear portrayal of identity consumption. However, by the end of the performance, the audience was encouraged to cheer the performers on; by creating this interactivity within the audience, a cycle of identity production and consumption is created. An audience member’s choice of yelling at the performers is their own production of identity, because it is based on their perspective to decide to cheer, or not to cheer. Thus, the performers are consuming the identity produced by the audience. Concluding that the Gamelan Cudamani performance not only produced balinese identity, however it consumed the many identities of the audience.
