Bali Art Festival offers nonlocals chance to ease homesickness

Irawaty Wardany ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Mon, 06/23/2008 10:36 AM  |  Bali

Besides giving a glimpse of the country's cultural diversity, the 30th Bali Art Festival also provides a chance for natives of other provinces residing in Bali to ease their homesickness.

Sulawesi native Rosa, a fourth year student at Mahasaraswati University in Denpasar, acknowledged that she became nostalgic when she saw the performance of traditional dances and songs from Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Friday night on one of the stages of the Art Center in Denpasar.

The shows, presented by the Makassar Cultural and Tourism Agency, featured performances of the Pakkarena dance, Batti-battik song and To' Minasa dance.

Pakkarena, performed by four dancers from Tanah Merah Movement Art, is one of the most famous dances from the region.

No one knows exactly the history behind this dance but some Pakkarena dancers believe it is based on folklore about the separation of boting langi (heaven's dweller) and lino (earth inhabitants).

In the last minutes of the parting, boting langi taught lino about how to live -- planting, farming and hunting -- through body movements. These movements then becomes a ritual for lino to express their gratitude to boting langi.

The second performance was Batti-battik, which originated from ambattik, or the process of separating cotton from the seeds. Makassar people usually sing quatrains about love, religion and life accompanied by a gambus (lute) during the separation process.

The third performance was of the Minasa dance, which depicted the fidelity of wives when their husbands are at sea.

Rosa enjoyed the show, moving her hands along with the movements of the dancers during the performances.

"I've lived in Bali for four years since I was accepted at Mahasaraswati University," she said.

Although she regularly visits her hometown of Mandar (in West Sulawesi), she still feels homesick.

"That is why when I heard there would be a performance from Makassar at the Bali Art Festival, I came right away," she said.

Head of the Makassar Cultural and Tourism Agency, Eddy Kosasih Parawansa, said his agency had been invited to the festival two years in a row.

"I hope the organizer can invite us again next year because we realize that this is a good chance to promote traditional arts from Makassar here," he said.

Unfortunately, he said, he and his team did not well enough prepared.

"We should have come with leaflets on the background of each performance, because many audience members wondered about the meaning of the dances and songs," he said.

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