According to Nyoman Suarsa, one of the choreographers at Printing Mas studio, the dances that can only be found in the rural villages of Bali are quite attractive and have great potential.

"Those dances are not less attractive than the popular traditional dances, and many are eligible candidates for ‘going public’," Suarsa says as he describes his struggle to bring these dormant dances back into the public arena. He has already been teaching and developing these dances in the studio for some time, and would like to see them become more popular.

So, while the popular traditional dances are maintained as tourism assets, new creation dances are constantly being produced for local markets, and the non-popular traditional dances are continually being revived and inventoried.

There is still one type of dance that remains under special treatment, however - ritual dances.

Ritual dances can be performed only on special occasions, during religious ceremonies and other important rituals. Such dances cannot be performed without a well-formulated purpose. Suarsa says he and his friends frequently refuse to accept requests involving the performance of ritual dances for purposes other than those determined for such dances.

Out of the Box
Balinese dances are already well known in various parts of the world. The Printing Mas studio also reveals that some countries have started teaching Balinese dancing seriously. This dancing art studio alone, which was established in 1981, has been successful in introducing Balinese dances to a number of countries around the world, including Japan, Korea, Australia and America.

What is really surprising is the fact that Balinese dances are being introduced to the world by word of mouth — apparently dance studios in Bali have not yet developed sophisticated promotional marketing methods. As Nyoman Oklin, the director of the Printing Mas studio, has stated, "Usually foreigners come to know us through a particular contact person. We have a friend living in Japan, for example. He often promotes us through the various popular media of that country. The same thing happens with Australia and America," he added.

Studios such as Printing Mas have certainly done a lot to help maintain Balinese dances, and they always try to discover, learn about, protect, and promote these dances nationally and internationally. Dance studios in Bali have made important contributions to the world of culture and tourism, and they act like guards for ceramic items — that is, they look after traditional Balinese dances as if they are breakable. A dance will face extinction if not well guarded, so these studios do perform an important function.

end

above :
1. The Puja Prasarnya dance. or "welcome" dance
2. An Oleg dancer

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