NEW YORK CONFERENCE ON ASIAN STUDIES AT BARD COLLEGE TO INCLUDE FLIMS, CONCERTS, EXHIBITIONS, AND LECTURES "Asian Border Crossings" is Sponsored by Bard in China and Takes Place October 29–30 with Art Exhibitions Continuing into November

Press Contact: Darren O’Sullivan (845) 758-7649 [email protected] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BARD COLLEGE HALLOWEEN GAMELAN CONCERT ON OCTOBER 29 WILL FEATURE WORLD-RENOWNED BALINESE MUSICIANS AND ARTISTS Performance Will Take Place in the New Frank–Gehry Designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—On Friday, October 29, Bard College will host a Balinese Gamelan Halloween extravaganza, featuring performances from some of Bali’s most renowned artists and musicians and works by one of its leading composers. The concert, “Watch the Spirits Come Out,” will include traditional gamelan music with vibrant dances and singing in Balinese and Javanese styles. The program includes a performance of Jauk Manis, featuring the renowned Balinese dancer I Nyoman Catra as an intense demon with a sweet side. The concert takes place at 7:30 p.m. in Sosnoff Theater at The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. Seating is reserved and admission is charged. “Watch the Spirits Come Out” will feature performances by Gamelan Dharma Swara, a 30-member ensemble based in New York City, with musical direction by I Nyoman Saptanyana and dance direction by Aru Candrawati Saptanyana. Guest artists include I Nyoman Catra, Putu Bagus Krisna Saptanyana, with special guest I Nyoman Windha, one of Bali’s most highly acclaimed and well-known musicians and composers. Included in the program are performances of Telek, Legong, and Jauk Manis. There will be three pieces composed by Windha, including the Dharma Swara premiere of Sarwa Madu, which features singing in both Balinese and Javanese styles, as well as Sekar Jagat, a welcoming dance, and Cendrawasih, a dance of birds of paradise. Also featured are Bard’s own student Gamelan Chandra Kancana and Bard’s community Gamelan Giri Mekar performing Tenun, a fisherman’s dance; Baris, a young male warrior dance; and Kebyar Duduk, a virtuosic piece featuring energetic breaks in the music and dance. -continued- “This performance offers the local community, especially teachers and families with children, a wonderful opportunity to experience a unique Asian art form, performed by some of the world’s most renowned gamelan artists at the internationally acclaimed and acoustically superb Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts,” said Katherine Gould-Martin, director of the Bard in China program. The concert is part of Asian Border Crossings, the New York Conference of Asian Studies, hosted by Bard's Asian Studies Program. It is presented by Bard in China with support from the Freeman Undergraduate Asian Studies Initiative. I Nyoman Saptanyana, musical director of Gamelan Dharma Swara, first learned gamelan at the age of 8 with a children’s barong group in Ubud. He started playing gong Kebyar in junior high. He studied at the State College of Indonesia Arts (STSI) at Denspasar, Bali, from 1983 to 1989. He toured Australia in 1986 with STSI and performed with the Sadha Budaya Ubud, touring Japan and Europe. Saptanyana graduated from the Indonesian College of Performing Arts in 1989. He taught at the Museum ARMA in Ubud from 1996 to 2000. He has been the artistic director of New York Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia Balinese music and dance group, Gamelan Dharma Swara, since 2001. He is also currently teaching Balinese gamelan at Bard College. Ari Candrawati Saptanyana, dance director, Gamelan Dharma Swara, has been dancing since the age of 7, when she began her studies of Legong. She studied with Cok Sri Agung and graduated from STSI in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree. She choreographed a new work for dance in 1992 entitled Prabhu Nala. She has performed with Sadha Budaya throughout Bali and toured internationally with the group in Japan (1986) and Europe (1989). In 1990 she toured Sweden with STSI. She taught at Museum ARMA for three years before moving to United States. She now teaches and performs dance with Dharma Swara in New York City. I Nyoman Windha is one of the leading musicians and contemporary composers of Balinese Gamelan music. A graduate of STSI, Windha has been a member of the faculty there since 1985. He has composed dozens of compositions for Balinese gamelan in many genres but primarily in Kebyar style. His compositions have been incorporated into the standard repertoire of Balinese performing groups and many have won awards at Bali’s annual gamelan competition. Windha’s music is known for his beautiful melodies, incorporation of forms and styles from Javanese gamelan, and other innovations such as unusual time signatures. He has traveled and taught extensively around the world. I Nyoman Catra is one of Bali’s most renowned master artists of traditional dance and theater. He specializes in the Kecak monkey dance and masked temple performances known as Topeng, whose clown characters bear a strong resemblance to commedia dell’arte. In addition to performing his entire life in village temple ceremonies and in festivals around the world, Catra is a distinguished senior faculty member of the Indonesia Institute of the Arts in Bali. He holds a B.A. and SST degree in dance from STSI, an M.A. in theater from Emerson College in Boston, and is a Ph.D. candidate in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University. In the United States, he has appeared with Julie Taymor at LaMama and at the Henson International Puppet Festival with Larry Reed. He has taught Balinese music and dance theater at MIT, Holy Cross College, and Rochester Academy of Music. He gives lecture demonstrations and performances throughout the United States. Gamelan Dharma Swara is a 30-member ensemble that practices and performs the Balinese performing arts in New York City. Founded in 1986 by Cokorda Gde Arsa Artha, the gamelan has performed at venues including The United Nations, New York University, and Merkin Concert Hall. Dance, music and theater are all part of the ensemble’s offerings. The group operates under the auspices of the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in New York City and is a member of the umbrella group Arts Indonesia, a not-for-profit organization. Seating for the event is reserved. Admission is $15, $25, and $35 for adults and $5, $10, and $15 for students and children. For tickets and more information, please call the Fisher Center box office at 845-758-7900.

This event was last updated on 11-01-2004

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