Tropical Heat Tour: Bali Part 12
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
This afternoon was one of those computer-filled kind of days that I spent in the Warungs Kacu and Taman Curry. In the evening, I took a long walk down past the Monkey Forest to the Agung Rai Museum of Art, also known as ARMA, in Pengosekan village at the Southern tip of Ubud. Tonight’s show, presented by a small troupe hailing from Pujung village, consisted of a performance of Wayang Wong Ramayana, an old-fashioned form of Balinese masked dance drama featuring a segment from the Indian epic the Ramayana.
The story concerned Rama’s battles with Rahwana, and the intense performance featured plenty of stunning dance, layered shouting, growling and singing, and mock violence. At one point, a really neat Chinese-style two-man dragon came out and snaked around the space. I was happy I captured some really good video of that. The small gamelan really kicked up a ruckus and kept the dark drama moving. Overall, it was a great performance by a legit small-town ensemble. After the show, I asked ARMA if there was a shuttle van back to Ubud for the other seven audience members that I could latch onto, but they each climbed into one bound for their hotels. Then a super happy and friendly ARMA employee gave me a lift up to the Shisha Lounge in their van. What a class act.
Roll over photos for captions.
Words and photos ©2012 Arcane Candy.
Leave a Reply