This morning when I went to visit Mitha, her father said she had gone to the elementary school where there was a goodbye party for the headmaster. He mentioned that there might be some modern dance performance there, if I would like to see. Never one to miss an opportunity to try and understand the Balinese, I quickly walked over to the schoolyard. When I arrived at the entrance I could hear the gleeful sound of many children and adults, and so I followed it into the nearby classroom, which was bursting at the seams with children and adults of all ages, standing together like sardines in a box, watching some dance at the far end of the large room. Mitha was standing right at the entrance (the usual Balinese synchronicity that I experience ) so I tapped her shoulder to say hello, and immediately went outside to watch from the windows where more people were gathered, but at least I would have some air and a chance to get closer.
When I found a good view I was surprised to see three young eleven year old girls, dressed in halter tops and skin tight short shorts, their long black hair falling on their bare shoulders, doing hip hop dancing to some hip hop music. The funny thing was that they had pan face expressions (no smiles) and were doing all of the seductive modern dance movements with their hips and shoulders and hands, but ….it was empty! There was no sexuality in it. There was no teasing or ego or "look at me, I am a star!" energy in it. The crowds were photographing with their cell phones and cameras, and the two rows of eight male teachers sitting in the front row seats, watched with slight smiles on their faces.
After five hip hop songs and varied choreography that was quite impressive technically, the second group of dancers came on stage. Now it was six children dressed up western style, as couples; boys and girls with gold hearts pasted on their cheek. The crowds roared as they saw the boy with a beret, and the sports coat, with large spectacles, and another one with a sporty hat and tie, the girls with flimsy sexy clothing, and wild hair do. The three "couples" proceeded to imitate discotheque dancers and every time one of the young 12 year old boys put his hand on the girls waist or shoulder the crowds shouted from excitement! The music was the latest in romantic and electronic music, as were the movements, but here again, the mimicking was perfect, but the "insides" were Balinese…
After another five well choreographed and performed dances by the couples, a female teacher said a quick farewell to everyone and the crowds poured out, happy after the entertaining show. Mitha and I hopped onto her motorbike and as we drove to her place, she asked how I enjoyed the performance. I told her that we will speak once we get home since I have much to say.
When we arrived at her simple thatch house in the dirt compound among the banana and coconut trees, with the chickens running about and the pig and cow in the back, I asked her "Do you know how to dance like that too?" "Oh, No!!" she shuddered and shyly laughed! Mitha has studied classical Balinese dancing for a number of years. I asked her why she doesn't know how to dance like that. And she quietly said that what interests her is Balinese culture and life style. I started to tell her how enlightening the show was for me. That to be in Bali, watching young Balinese children imitating westerners at a going away party for their schoolmaster, was a great opportunity to see how very very different both cultures are. When I am here for so long, I forget the differences, but seeing how these young innocent children that have been exposed to western "Kulture" imitate us was a real lesson. I was relieved to see that they are very good at imitating the external movements, and did quite a repertoire, but the very essence of the origin of these movements, which is based entirely on the "tango" between men and women and all of the sexual innuendos that accompany it, were absent.
I was worried that soon Bali will also become just like the rest of the western world since fifty percent of the population is foreigners, but I was quickly reassured that I am wrong. A German resident from southern Bali who joined me at lunch later, shared how at the discotheques in the touristy south, the young adult Balinese do indeed know how to imitate all of the latest dances and behavior from the west, but their insides are still so naïve and traditional. He noticed the same thing that I did; that the Balinese themselves are deeply rooted in their own culture, in spite of the strong modern influences. They are more like little children, no matter how old they are, simply playing and laughing and men and women feeling comfortable and natural with each other, self confident in their bodies and without much need to flaunt or prove it to anyone. The men are men, the women are women, but it is a very comfortable type of energy that surrounds it all. The men can walk around with just a sarong around their waists, bare chested, and looking very sexy, but it is just who they are, and their lifestyle, and not in order to be macho. Why their bodies are often covered with multiple tattoos, I haven't yet investigated. And the Balinese women look elegant in their see -through brocade blouses and sarongs with their black hair up in a bun with a flower in it, as they walk tall and proud with offerings on their head to the temple. And yes, there is flirting and people having affairs and pregnant teenagers that need to marry quickly, but it seems like the inner source of their lives, which is strongly connected to their Hindu traditions, has deep roots, in spite of the superficial western emptiness. Their smiles are genuine. Their ability to sing and dance without ego involved, but just because they have been gifted with this ability and bring it to their surroundings is refreshing and admirable. Mithas father summed it up" Yes, we have televisions and cell phones and computers now, all because of the West, but we can elect how to use them. In themselves, they are harmless and can be helpful, but we must select the things that are good for us. The western style dancing you saw today was just a way to laugh and have fun once a year."
Kind of like how we dress up on Purim and do all kinds of silly skits exaggerating types that are quite different than who we really are. Another glimpse of the Balinese in the "still authentic" village of Tejakula.
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