Holy Cross Gamelan Orchestra to Hold Concert Directed by Master Balinese Artist

WORCESTER, Mass. – The College of the Holy Cross departments of theatre and music will present a concert of their famed Balinese gamelan orchestra, Gamelan Gita Sari, under the direction of visiting fellow in Balinese performing arts, Ni Suasthi Bandem, on Friday, Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. in Brooks Concert Hall.  The semi-annual concerts are free and open to the public.  They routinely perform for standing-room-only crowds.

The concert will begin with a tabuh telu topeng tua dance followed by feature pieces from the classical repertoire, including the Pendet, a welcoming dance; the Baris, an important ritual dance, known as the warrior-drill dance and choreographed by I Made Bandem; and the Jauk, a masked dancer depicting a demonic warrior who is noted for wearing a stupa-shaped conical helmet.  The Jauk will be danced by Putu Bagus Krisna Saptanyana, a regular performer with Gamelan Dharma Swara from the Indonesian Consulate.  In addition, the concert will include the Janger, which is accompanied by the dancers singing a traditional Balinese folk song, and Kecak, a monkey chant dance.

Gamelan Gita Sari was founded in 1999.  Gita Sari translates as “the essence of song.”  The company is composed entirely of students and faculty from the College.  The group performs on its Gong Kebyar gamelan, built for Holy Cross in 1998 by master Balinese craftsman Pande Made Sukerta.  Following a blessing ceremony in Mengwitani, the gamelan was shipped to Massachusetts, where a second ceremony was conducted in July 1999.  This coincided with Holy Cross being awarded a Henry Luce Foundation Grant to fund a Balinese scholar-artist-in-residence for four years.

In addition to holding two concerts a year at Holy Cross, Gamelan Gita Sari has performed at Brown University and Wesleyan University, as well as for the New Hampshire Humanities Council and the conference “Continuities and Change: A Celebration of Balinese Music, Theatre and Dance” held at Holy Cross.  Members of the ensemble have played and danced at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bard College.

Ni Bandem received a B.A. from Indonesian Dance Academy in Denpasar, Strata 1 in dance from Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Yogyakarta, and her Magister and Ph.D. in Performing Art Study from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.  Since 1984, she has been a faculty member at the Indonesian Dance Academy and has taught at UCLA and Wesleyan University.  She is the founder of the Makaradhwaja Performing Arts Group.  As an accomplished dancer and choreographer, Suasthi has performed throughout Europe, North American, Latin America, Australia, Zimbabwe, Japan, Maldives, and Southeast Asia.  She has created and designed the costumes for many dances including Belibis, Puspanjali, Cendrawasih, Sekar Jagat, Sarawati, Topeng Dalem Balingkang, and Gadung Kasturi.  Additionally, two of her dances have become official dances performed for graduation ceremonies in Indonesia and she choreographed the dances for the Canadian film, Bali Nocturne.

Among her many honors are the Siwa Nataraja Award from the Indonesian College of the Arts in Bali, the Gold Pin Award from the Balisani Hotel for her work in developing and preserving the arts and culture, and the Adhi Karya Award from the Minister of Tourism, Post, and Telecommunication of the Republic of Indonesia for her achievements in supporting tourism through the arts.

For more information about the concert and Gamelan Gita Sari, contact Joan Townsend at 508-793-3490.