The preparation for Balinese dancing is very critical. It takes longer than the actual dancing and would probably be unbearable for any longer period of time. So we went to Bapak Nika's village to prepare for the dance in his village temple in Munggu where we were told not to dance for the audience, but for our (respective) god...I'll just say, I really hope I satisfied God, since, well, I'm no dancer...
But here is my prep...hair teasing, layers of foundation and makeup, fake lashes, painted lips...
The group in final form, pre-performance. I think we look pretty good/no one back home would recognize us...I'm on the bottom-left.
Also, pre-performance. At the temple finally, waiting to go on. There were other performances as well that night. It is still unclear to me if this was some kind of dance competition, or just a performance. Regardless, the kids running around the temple loved us. To them, I think seeing a white person in full Bali gear is the equivalent of a cat walking on its hind legs...
Mid-show. We did ok. Some costume pieces fell off...Sinu lost her whole hair piece. The audience laughed a lot. But I really am convinced it wasn't because we were THAT awful, rather, seeing bule's dance their dance is just hysterical to them. Then again, we could have been that bad...
Post-show. I look like the wicked witch of the west.
Official Balinese dancing? The only thing I can do is the truffle shuffle...
ReplyDeleteDude, you rock. keep up the posts.