Dancing Out of Bali Read online

  From the London and New York Press

  WINTER GARDEN THEATRE, LONDON.... breaking several house records for attendance.

  FASCINATING AND CHARMING.... “How fascinating are these tiny fragile girls in glittering gold brocade and gold head-dresses, their dark hair twined with white flowers. Particularly interesting was Tumulilingan danced by Ni Gusti Raka and Sampih, depicting the vain courtship of a bumblebee. How charming was... the lovemaking.... The classical Legong including a charming bird dance by Raka.... Among character dancers, outstanding was the Ketjak... a male chorus squatting in concentric circles about an admirable mime, Serog, gradually acquire the characteristics of monkeys. The combination of abrupt movement and gutteral barks is quite extraordinary."

  -Cyril Beaumont, Sunday Times, London

  FIRE AND PRECISION.... “delicacy of arm and hand movement... infinitely plastic use of the body... the tight swaddling of the girls... gives them a tenuous elegance, enhanced by their tender age. Ni Gusti Raka... dances with the fire and precision of a ballerina... she is the very embodiment of all fairy-tale princesses and as a fierce little bird she is irresistible, putting all western Firebirds to shame... (and there is some beautifully dressed up fooling).... The entertainment offered is far from being only dancing. The 'gamelan orchestra' is fascinating not only to hear but to watch... and there is a splendid 'monkey chorus' from the men.... The costumes are rich and strange as only oriental dresses can be. Incredibly, they were woven and made in two villages on the island."

  -Alexander Bland, The Observer, London

  UNIQUE DISPLAY.... “a unique display of a highly developed art which should not be missed... a continuous sinuosity of movement.... Three young girls... dance the Legong... with superb grace... the Ketjak... has the most atmosphere, but the highlight of the evening is the Barong, a grotesque comedy about a mythical lion who protects the Balinese from evil influences. The show is very ably produced by John Coast."

  -P. EJ, London Telegraph

  A BEAUTIFUL SHOW.... “gorgeous to look at, stunning to listen to, full of vivacity and completely off the beaten track. Ni Gusti Raka, the leading dancer, is an utterly lovely wisp of a girl. Her dancing in the gay and delightful 'bumblebee' number called ‘Tumulilingan’ is bewitching, and in the more demanding ‘Legong’ it is truly superb, technically and dramatically:’

  -John Martin, New York Times

  THEY LIVE THE DANCE.... “A rich cross-section of the wonderfully varied Balinese dance repertoire. In the intricate choreographies so closely coordinated with music of magic sound and complex rhythm, a sensational theatrical art is displayed, like nothing else to be found throughout the East."

  -Colin McPhee, New York Times Magazine

  BEAUTY PLUS.... “William Saroyan once wrote a play called 'The Beautiful People.' The same title fully describes the event which took place last evening at the Fulton Theater where the Dancers of Bali with their Gamelan Orchestra from the little Indonesian village of Pliatan, made their American debut. For there was beauty everywhere. Beauty of movement and beauty of sound, beauty of color and beauty of spirit. From the temple doorways, etched against the deep blue sky, came tiny dancers in golds and crimsons and purples, in costumes of breathtaking loveliness and in the wonderfully monstrous garbs of demons.''

  -Walter Terry, New York Herald Tribune

  DANCERS OF BALI ARE FASCINATING, FUNNY AND FRISKY “This Balinese company, visiting here by courtesy of the Republic of Indonesia, is exotic, fabulously costumed, exciting and just plain lightheartedly funny. Its orchestra, called a Gamelan, is a fascinating syncopated ensemble."

  -John Chapman, New York Daily News

  MAGIC CARPET.... “The Fulton Theater, while it shelters the 'Dancers of Bali', is the place to go. The excitement of unfamiliar rhythms and daring volumes, the supreme delicacy of dance patterns and the luxury of broad comedy all combine to make a magic carpet of the exhibition."

  -William Hawkins, New York World-Telegram and Sun

  BALI DANCERS ARE MAGNIFICENT.... “A visit to the Fulton is imperative for those who wish to enlarge their artistic horizons. We found the performance nothing less than magnificent, and the youngsters in the audience were enchanted by it, particularly with the clowning and pageantry."

  -Robert Coleman, New York Daily Mi”or

  EAST COMES WEST.... “It portrays a glittering world of make-believe where people never grow up to serious problems of emotions.... Another new experience is the Gamelan orchestra. It can whip up as much frenzy as our jiviest jazz and in the next moment lull you to meditation."

  -Frances Herridge, New York Post

  EXTRAORDINARY.... “From the village of Pliatan, Bali, Indonesia, some 14,000 miles away, came its foremost dancers and musicians to make real the almost legendary accounts of their unique way of life. They provided a choice experience.... There is strange exhilaration as well as fascination in the multi-rhythmic music.''

  -Miles Kastendieck, New York Journal-American

  Paperback edition published by Periplus Editions with the permission of Laura Rosenberg

  ©John Coast, 1953,

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form

  First published as Dancers of Bali by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1953

  Reissued as Dancing Out of Bali by Faber and Faber Limited, London, 1954

  First Periplus edition, 2004

  ISBN: 978-1-4629-0471-6 (ebook)

  Publisher's Note

  Modern spelling was introduced to Indonesia in 1969 when, for example, "Dj" became simply "J". Ardjuna is now spelt Aljuna.

  "Pliatanis" derived from the original name of Peliatan village, usually shortened to Pliatan, and so used by John Coast in his book. Peliatan is adjacent to Ubud which became more famous in later years.

  "Luce" was the familiar name of Supianti Sujono, the Javanese wife of John Coast.

  Printed in Singapore

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  JOHN ALAN COAST

  1916-1989

  Menanti di pintu sorga

  Dancing Out of Bali chronicles John’s

  most cherished life’s work—bringing the people

  and culture of Bali to the attention of audiences

  throughout the world. It has now been reissued,

  fifty years after its initial release, in the hope that

  this passionate appreciation will reach an

  ever-widening circle of people.

  Grateful thanks go to arts consultant and

  writer James Murdoch for helping to make this

  edition possible, and to Sir David Attenborough,

  Jonathan Copelan
d, Tom Hennes, Ni Wayan Murni

  and Ni Gusti Raka for their special support.

  Royalties from the sale of this edition

  will go towards the continuance of

  the performing arts in Bali.

  LAURA ROSENBERG

  New York City, January 2004

  www.johncoast.org

  About the Author

  John Coast was born in Eastbourne, Kent on October 30, 1916. As Britain entered World War II, he joined the Coldstream Guards and then later the Norfolk Regiment as an officer. He was posted to Singapore, which within days fell to the Japanese invaders, and taken prisoner of war. Coast was sent to Siam (now Thailand) to slave for more than three years on the infamous Thai-Burma Railway. His story of that ordeal, Railroad of Death (1946), became an instant best seller and was later to form the basis of Return to the River Kwai, an acclaimed documentary he made in 1969 for the BBC. With a multicultural group of dancers, musicians and actors, including many Malays and Indonesians, Coast produced many concert performances during his internment. After the war, Coast joined the press department of the British Foreign Office in Bangkok, but shortly after became press attache to President Sukarno during the Indonesian struggle for independence. He described his roles in early Indonesian politics in his book Recruit to Revolution (1952). 1950, immersed in Balinese culture and dreamed of organizing the first postwar Western tour of Bali's finest musicians and dancers. His perseverance brought such a troupe to Europe and America in 1952/53, with spectacular success. His book Dancers of Bali (1953)—published Dancing out of Bali (1954)—relates historic recording made in London of the group's exotic music caused widespread interest and influenced England's great composer Benjamin Britten's three-act ballet Prince of the Pagodas. In the mid-1950s, returned to London and became a leading impresario, managing the careers of such artists as Mario Lanza, Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carerras, Jon Vickers and Montserrat Caballe. He presented Bob Dylan's first appearance in London and first brought Ravi Shankar to the West. He also contributed articles to The New Statesman, The Economist, Ballet and Dance News, and made several films with Sir David Attenborough on Balinese culture for the BBC.

  Contents

  From the London and New York Press

  Dedication

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  A Short Bibliography Books by the Same Author Author's Dedication

  Foreword by Sir David Attenborough

  Illustrations

  1. We Decide to Stay

  2. Our Work Begins

  3. The Club in Pliatan

  4. Our Legong: and the Great Mario

  5. Shaping a Programme

  6. Of Guests and Guest-Houses

  7. Invitation to Malaya

  8. Enter our Impresario

  9. Preparations and Politics

  10. London Interlude

  11. Balinese in America

  12. End of the Journey

  A Postscript

  Information on the Language, Pronunciation and Currency, in Bali and Indonesia

  Index

  Acknowledgments

  The author wishes to thank Mr Colin McPhee for his technical advice in connection with the analysis of Balinese music made in Chapter 7.

  A Short Bibliography

  The Island of Bali by Miguel Covarrubias

  (ISBN 962 593 060 4)

  Dance and Drama in Bali by Walter Spies and Beryl de Zoete

  (ISBN 962 593 880 X)

  A House in Bali by Colin McPhee

  (ISBN 962 593 629 7)

  A Tale from Bali by Vicki Baum

  (ISBN 962 593 502 9)

  Books by the Same Author

  Railroad of Death

  Recruit to Revolution

  Some Aspects of Siamese Politics

  Author’s Dedication

  One day towards the end of February 1954, back in Bali a year, Sampih was called to dance with the Pliatan group in the palace of the Raja of Gianjar in front of President Sukarno.

  He failed to appear. Three days later his murdered body was found in the Ubud River.

  Sampih was a very great dancer; and while Luce and I were living in Bali he was like our brother.

  The book, which so fittingly could have been dedicated to him and the Anak Agung Mandera, I now dedicate in great sorrow to his memory.

  Foreword

  There was a time when Bali, to Western eyes, represented all that was remote and exotic. It was the Far East at its most romantic. In the 1930s, a few wealthy travellers, attracted by rumours of the island's extraordinary beauty and the wonders of its music and dancing, started to visit it in their luxury yachts. Occasionally, one or two European painters and musicians went with them and several became so fascinated by the island's rich yet alien culture that they settled there. But they were the exceptions. To the rest of the world, Bali was little more than a name for a distant unreachable island paradise.

  John Coast, the author of this book, arrived in Southeast Asia as a member of the British Army during the Second World War. Within days of his landing at Singapore, the island fell to the Japanese and he was taken as prisoner to work on the murderous Burma Railway. There he laboured and suffered alongside others who came from what was then the Dutch East Indies. Such appalling experiences might well have turned many against all things Oriental. For John, they did quite the reverse, and when peace came at last and he was demobilized he returned as part of the British diplomatic delegation in Thailand. From there, he went to Java as a private individual to do what he could to help Indonesia in its fight for independence.

  It was then that he visited Bali. He was so overwhelmed by the splendour of the islanders' music and dancing, so unlike the stately traditions of Java and beyond in its fire and brilliance, that he dreamed of arranging a worldwide tour for a group of dancers together with their essential complement, a full gamelan orchestra.

  In this book, he tells how he achieved this unlikely and pioneering feat. The story involves intrigue, politics, rivalries and even—tragically—murder. But his pages are also filled with the brilliant clashing sounds of the Balinese gamelan, the flicker of candlelight on the graceful bodies of child dancers, the perfume of incense and frangipani, and the vivid presence of one of the most generous, friendly and talented people on earth.

  When his book was first published in 1953, have been to the island. Bali still had no airport of any kind, let alone one that could accept aircraft big enough to bring in visitors hundreds at a time. The beach at Sanur, today lined by towering luxury hotels, was then so quiet and lonely that a stranger could spend the night there, watching turtles come ashore
to lay their eggs, looking at the stars, and sleeping on the sand. I know. I did.

  So I too became captivated by all things Balinese. On my return, I read this book and eventually met its author. Together we persuaded BBC Television to let us make a series of films that would give some account of Balinese art, and in particular its music and dancing. So I had the huge good fortune of working in Bali in partnership with someone whom the Balinese knew well and held in great affection.

  It is indeed splendid that John's book should be in print once more to tell today's visitors of how things once were on the island. But its readers will have no difficulty in imagining that, for there is a miracle about Bali. Its traditions are so vigorous, so deeply rooted in the Balinese character, that they remained astonishingly free from foreign influences for centuries. As a result—if you know where to look—you can still discover and recognize what it was that intoxicated John Coast fifty years ago.

  SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH

  London, October 2003

  Illustrations

  1. John Coast, Bangkok, 1950.

  2. John Coast and Luce in their house in Kaliangu, Bali.

  3. Mario (I Ketut Maria) training Ni Gusti Raka. (John Coast)

  4. Ni Gusti Raka copying Mario's movements. (John Coast)