Dell’arte Goes to Bali 2009 Feb 9-March 12, 2009

FEBRUARY 9 – MARCH 12, 2009
Check out the Bali Blog 2007
by School Director Joan Schirle

Since 1996, Dell’Arte International has invited students, teachers, designers, directors, and artists to immerse themselves in the traditional arts of Bali and encounter the profound spirit of the Balinese people. In this unique and wonderfully successful program participants study traditional Balinese performing arts and crafts with village masters, as well as Dell’Arte mask and movement techniques led by Dell’Arte’s Founding Artistic Director Joan Schirle and Dell’Arte faculty.

Bali is an extraordinary island where creativity is ordinary. In Bali, art serves the community, the religious practices, the economy and everyday living. This trip introduces students to Balinese performing arts in a way that allows them to experience how the Balinese live and create, and how family life and religious customs are woven into the creation of art. Unlike programs designed for art tourism, this program is designed for those who want to participate in the family life of outstanding Balinese master teachers as they teach.

Due to the sacred nature of most Balinese arts and the complete intertwining of daily life with ritual, this trip can be an opportunity to deepen our internal connection to our own artistic practice, as well as to take inspiration for creative projects.

THE PROGRAM
The program begins with a relaxing traditional Balinese buffet dinner, followed by three days of orientation to the language, customs, and ceremonies of Bali, as well as informal meetings with Balinese teachers to observe their work. Orientation will include a symposium on masks with famous carver I. B. Anom, visits to the studios of several mask carvers and puppet makers, and attendance at the famous kecak, or monkey-chant dance by firelight.
During the three and a half weeks of formal study, classes meet five days a week. Sometimes our study will take place in a classroom setting, sometimes outdoors, and most often in its traditional setting at village and temple ceremonies.

• Mask Carving
• Mask Carving/ Balinese Dance (topeng)
• Shadow puppetry (wayang kulit) / Balinese dance

MASK CARVING
Learn from a Balinese master carver how to work with the wood, the traditional tools (axe, chisels, knives), and the paints to create traditional and contemporary masks. You may order and bring home their own complete set of tools for under $40. Students will spend 4 – 6 hours daily in the home of their teacher.
For a lively account of one man’s encounter with mask carving, visit this link for interview with design Professor Ron Naverson (S. Illinois U, Carbondale), who was on our ’03 trip.

MASK CARVING/BALINESE DANCE
Your morning will include one hour of Balinese dance. Topeng is the name of the masked dance form performed at most Balinese ceremonies. You will work in the studio of a Balinese master teacher, learning the basic walks, postures, arm and head movements in the mask. Topeng is based on stock characters like the king, minister, clown, and you will have the opportunity to see it performed at village ceremonies during your studies. Your carving program is the same as that described above, except that you will have a break after dance, and be carving in the afternoon, spending up to four hours daily with your teacher.