Gamelan Sekar Jaya

Vanderhoef Studio Hall in the Mondavi Center, UC Davis
1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA
Admission $20/$8 Buy Tickets Online
UC Davis Department of Music & Gamelan Sekar Jaya
present and evening of
Balinese Music and Dance (More info)

Featuring Gamelan Sekar Jaya's Musicians and Dancers & UC Davis "Kecak" Group.
Led by GSJ Artists-in-Residence Emiko Saraswati Susilo and I Dewa Putu Berata

"Kelanguan" - Swept Away by Beauty.
A world premier of this composition by Pak Dewa Berata for Gamelan Semarandana. Pak Dewa is one of the pioneers of creativity on the Semarandana and has created this piece for Gamelan Sekar Jaya. It's an interesting bringing together of Western and Balinese world views, that of the individual and that of the united whole.
"Kelanguang" is inspired by the many different kinds of beauty.  Each of us not only has a different perception of what is beautiful, each of us is capable of creating something beautiful. This piece explores not only what we can create as 'individuals', but the beauty and complexity of what is created when we bring ourselves together. A rich range of rhythms, melodies, tempi, structures explores the layering and intertwining of the sounds of the Semarandana ensemble - creating unity out of many kinds of beauty.

Also featured will be Legong Pengeleb, an amazing piece reconstructed in 2010 after almost being lost from Bali's live performance repertoire. The piece is a one of the great masterpieces of the Balinese repertoire and is rarely performed due to the difficult nature of the piece. "Pengeleb" refers to 'setting free'. It was created in the early 20th century as Indonesian resistance to Dutch occupation was growing. The choreography and music are delicate and lyrical and powerfully determined, drawing the spirits of both the human and the natural world in what is one of the hallmarks of Balinese artistic genius.
 

Photo: Fletcher Oakes 2011