An American Dances Legong
Interestingly, I found this on the net just after Anonymous's post. In it we hear of a New Yorker's experiences:
Yates, who portrayed King Lasem, is a native of New York who began learning Balinese dance in 1994. Her first contact happened at a workshop held at the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance, given by Sekar Jaya's former member, Mimi Prather. She learned the classical Legong style when the ensemble toured Bali in 1995, and has performed it with Sekar Jaya many times before this year's movie screenings.
"I do consider the style very difficult to learn. The angles of the agem (basic dance posture) seem unnatural at first, and tend to be frustrating to achieve. However, one thing I found about the agem is that if you hit the position correctly it is actually quite comfortable!" Intrigued by the style and the music, she worked through the difficulties of the delicate hand positions as well as the head and eye movements.
She and Davies rehearsed extensively to synchronize their movements. They watched videos of Ni Ketut Arini Alit "and tried our best to perform the piece as she taught...it is very important for the two Legong dancers to move the same way and hear the music the same way. In Bali, the Legong dancers would be of similar height and would look similar. Kompiang and I don't really look similar, but we try very hard to match our movements. And we've danced a long time together, so we can 'feel each other'on the stage, and that helps in trying to move the same way.
Link to the original article
Yates, who portrayed King Lasem, is a native of New York who began learning Balinese dance in 1994. Her first contact happened at a workshop held at the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance, given by Sekar Jaya's former member, Mimi Prather. She learned the classical Legong style when the ensemble toured Bali in 1995, and has performed it with Sekar Jaya many times before this year's movie screenings.
"I do consider the style very difficult to learn. The angles of the agem (basic dance posture) seem unnatural at first, and tend to be frustrating to achieve. However, one thing I found about the agem is that if you hit the position correctly it is actually quite comfortable!" Intrigued by the style and the music, she worked through the difficulties of the delicate hand positions as well as the head and eye movements.
She and Davies rehearsed extensively to synchronize their movements. They watched videos of Ni Ketut Arini Alit "and tried our best to perform the piece as she taught...it is very important for the two Legong dancers to move the same way and hear the music the same way. In Bali, the Legong dancers would be of similar height and would look similar. Kompiang and I don't really look similar, but we try very hard to match our movements. And we've danced a long time together, so we can 'feel each other'on the stage, and that helps in trying to move the same way.
posted by Steve at 2:17 PM
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