Friday, February 09, 2007

Dancers Destroy Linguitic Barriers in Bali

Even though moving vehicles usually have a soporific effect on me, there was so much to see through the van’s windows that I stayed alert throughout the entire ride.

Before we began our tour around Bali’s rural side, we stopped to see a theatrical performance enacted by a group of local actors and actresses that interpreted the struggle between Good and Evil forces. When we walked into the theater, they gave us a little description in english of each scene so we could follow the performance in Indonesian.

The actors' and dancers' expressive eyes and facial expressions, together with the precise movements of their fingers, feet, shoulders and necks were able to effectively transfer the essence of the story to an audience that did not understand the local language.

The detailed decorations and the costumes' designed, added to my fascination with foreign cultures, captivated my attention throughout the show, despite the simple plot.

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