White men can gong!

So there I was at my first "Gamelan" performance. I had no idea what it was or what I got myself into when I agreed to traipse along to the Indonesian Consulate to watch my boyfriend's mate get his "culture on." 

I anticipated the worst (monotones, falling asleep, slitting my wrists). And what did I get? I got the best and much more. The New York based Balinese music/dance group Gamelan Dharma Swara did not disappoint. The performance was like a breath of fresh air blowing through the halls of the Consulate on a humid night.

The music is a melodic interlocking of gongs, bamboo flutes and tuned keys played on handcrafted instruments. If you close your eyes, it kinda sounds psychedelic, like trance dance music. But believe me, there is no need to reach for the aspirin bottle.

My favorite was the Topang (traditional mask) dance. The mask, a white canvas with a finely painted mustache, exaggerated makeup and elaborate headdress seemed alive. But it was the delicate movements and stances of the dancer that captivated. What was obviously physically demanding seemed completely effortless.   

The thing that really blew my top though, was the number of white faces amidst the Indonesian faces that made up this traditional orchestra of about 20 players. And it was not just the faces, it was the expressions of belonging that they wore and the relish with which they played the instruments. This was the true delight of the evening.  

Gamelan, with its roots mainly on the Islands of Bali and Java, is traditional Indonesian music accompanied by shadow theatre and dance. The theatre and dance draw inspiration from Hindu-Buddhist cultural influences and are often enactments of Hindu historical epics and mythology. It began to be studied in North America during the late 1950s and today there are approximately 200 ensembles in both Canada and the USA. So by now, its cross cultural nature should not be surprising. But, surprising it is and unusual too. 

While it is common in modern dance and in contemporary music (pop, jazz and rock bands) to have different races jamming together, the same cannot be said for traditional or indigenous music such as Gamelan, where the music and dance is indigenous to a particular land, ethnic group or tribe. When last have you seen a pale face performing the Native American rain dance or an African singing the folk songs of the traditional reindeer herding Sami people or what about a Chinese person performing the Myan Yucatan dance? And even if you have, you cannot tell me that you were not taken aback, albeit for a second. 

In this way, I was reminded of  South Africa's very own "White Zulu" as he is affectionately called. Johnny Clegg was 16yrs old when he began a "tribal journey" immersing himself in the language, music and dance of the Zulu nation; a people, native to the Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa and recognized by history as proud and mighty warriors. By dancing the dance of the great Zulu warriors, Johnny Clegg became a music activist, breaking through the barriers of racial segregation in his own country. The laws of the land back then did not allow for the formation or performance of racially mixed bands. So Clegg and his Zulu band Juluka (meaning sweat in Zulu) were often threatened and censored by the State. As a result, Juluka mostly performed at universities, church halls, migrant labour hostels and community centres. His stage became a platform for anti-apartheid activism as he sang and danced his way into the hearts of all freedom loving South Africans, regardless of color or creed. He embraced the Zulu culture, cow-tails and all, and its people embraced him right back.

 

Sitting at the Indonesian Consulate that night, looking at the Gamelan ensemble, I realized that it's quite something to see faces who don't obviously belong........belong.