From: bt591@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Christian A. Herold)
Subject: kecak/tourism in Bali
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 92 05:25:34 GMT


 
To:   Anyone who's seen or with knowledge about Kecak,
      the Balinese "music-drama" form.
 
From: Christian Herold, masters student
      Department of Performance Studies
      New York University
      heroldc@acfcluster.nyu.edu
      or via soc.culture.asean (see snailinfo below)
 
Re:   Help for a paper on Kecak--its musical form and
      historical/economic inflluencs on that form
 
 
Greetings:
 
I'm writing a paper examining the tensions in the musical form of
the Balinese dance-drama Kecak (a/k/a monkey dance) resulting from
contradictory forces of indigenous sources and western influences. 
 
In particular, I'm interested in learning more about the forms of
Kecak, its component sources (Sanghyang Dedari/Janger, Baris Gede,
Gebyog, etc.), its performance contexts (touristic and otherwise),
its economics (who makes the bucks, what's done with them), its
variations (who gets to make variations and under what
circumstances are variations made), and anything else you think I
might be interested in.
 
Somewhat more specificially:
 
FORM: My current understanding of the musical form (not the
narrative "Ramayana" structure) is that it is based on the
polyrhythmic cymbal interplays of the gamelan gong. I would be
interested in learning more about this basic accompaniment
structure used by the Cak chorus and also about the overlying and
punctuating vocal structures.
 
SOURCES: How much does the form of kecak bring along with it of its
original performance contexts--the Sanghyang Dedari & Janger, Baris
Gede, Gebyog, rice-pounding rhythms, voices gamelan?
 
PERFORMANCE CONTEXTS: I'm also interested in response of Balinese
and other Indonesians to Kecak.  To what extent is it true that
it's only peformed for and appreciated by tourists? Where and when
are performances held?
 
ECONOMICS: How are profits distributed? What is done with the
profits? How much foreign currency ends up in the hands of the
Balinese state and what do they do with it? How much ends up in the
hands of the Indonesian federal government? In an article from the
Far Eastern Economic Review reprinted in today's discussion list,
Suhaini Aznam writes that of 2.5 million visitors spending $2.47
billion U.S., 25.7% went to Bali. Did Bali get $600+ million?
And: 1) "The tourist dollar also trickles down to the villages. In
Bali, tourism has created jobs for young locals as tour guides,
drivers, shop assistants and restaurant staff and villages benefit
from lucrative sales of handicrafts." And, 2) "The state of labor
in Indonesia goes back to Dutch rule and the use of coolie labor--
creating stratified manager-worker attitudes."
 
VARIATIONS: How rigid is the form? How strongly is its form
controlled by tourists, tourist agents, and bus or tour owners
versus the performers themselves or their towns? Where and when are
performances held?
 
ECETERA. In articles from the Far Eastern Review reprinted in
today's SEASIA discussion group, it was mentioned that 1) there are
"the usual fears that this influx of foreigners will contaminate
local culture. However, in Bali, at least, the local populace seems
oblivious of the instrusion and continues with their daily
offerings, farm work and temple festivals, as if the tour bus were
part of the landscape."  2) while in "cities steeped in the
performing arts like Jogjakarta and Solo, there are separate
programs for tourists and locals."  I presume the local populace
has a more complex reaction to tourism and also wonder about the
divisions between performances for tourists and locals.
 
I'm interested in hearing any anecdotes about kecak--anything YOU
find pertinent. And also any thoughts about tourism in Bali.
 
If you find ethnocentrism in this project or the framing of these
questions, please let me know about it--at whatever temperature.
 
Finally, I'd like to hear about you and how you came across your
information.  
 
Authors I've read already: Michel Picard, I Bandem Made & Fritz
deBoer, Hans Rhodius on Walter Spies, Covarrubias, Colin McPhee.
 
You can also reach me via snail mail/phone: 
Christian Herold
177 Bleecker St. #11
New York, NY 10012-1442
(212) 995-0547
 
My deadline is the end of April.
 
Thank you. 
q
P.S. "Today's  discussion list" = Listserv's  Seasia-L