Çudamani: Gamelan and Dance of Bali will perform on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. at the Weis Center for the Performing Arts at Bucknell University.
The performance is free, but tickets are required by calling 570-577-1000 or online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice.
There will be a pre-performance lecture and demonstration on Tuesday, Sept. 14 from 6:45-7:15 p.m. in the Weis Center Atrium facilitated by Music Professor Bethany Collier.
The performance is sponsored in part by the Candland family, Remembering Mary Candland. It is co-sponsored by Bucknell University’s Department of Music in partnership with the Bucknell University Gamelan Ensemble. This engagement of Çudamani is made possible through the ArtsCONNECT program Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT CUDAMANI
Hailed as one of Bali’s most forward-thinking music and dance ensembles, Çudamani is known for its exceptional creativity and superb artistry and also the performers’ unflagging love for the classical Balinese traditions.
Nurtured and trained in the village of Pengosekan, the group is among Bali’s most respected and accomplished. One of its many singular features is that its artists are multi-disciplinary, mastering gamelan, dance, voice and visual art, resulting in artistically unified presentations.
This 20-member ensemble weaves layers of intricate sound: the punctuation of deep, great bronze gongs; charismatic leadership from the drums; stunning interlocking percussion from the bronze gangsa, and the finely-elaborated delicacy of voice and flute.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
While at the Weis Center, Cudamani will present a program called “WATER-TIRTA.”
The Balinese have myriad of ways of understanding and relating to water. The Balinese conceptualize their physical world in terms of the high mountain (the place of Bali’s the most sacred temple) and low ocean and the Balinese dedicate themselves to protecting the life-giving cycle of water. They call their form of Hinduism AGAMA TIRTA or “The Religion of Holy Water.” Water not only makes things grow, it is a medium for spiritual regeneration. All places of worship from the enormous temples to corners of the humblest of homes requires purification with water – ceremonies, offerings, and receiving the blessings of holy water.
As a centerpiece for this tour “WATER-TIRTA” Dewa Berata (Director of Cudamani) will showcase his personal and family history of painting. Dewa has explored how digital drawing/painting brings new possibilities to his work. For WATER~TIRTA he will create digital time-lapse story painting which will be projected behind the gamelan orchestra. Original music will be composed by Dewa and his younger brother Dewa Rai.
The audience will be taken on a journey as water falls from the sky to the highest and most sacred mountain in Bali – bathing the temples and replenishing the sacred springs. Water is central to prayer, to rice cultivation, to social ties, to health and well-being of all living things. For the Balinese the water cycle is the story of life on this island in the sea. Even at death, one of the most important ceremonies for the Balinese ends as ashes are released on the shore.
TICKETS
Tickets are free but must be reserved in advance by calling 570-577-1000 or online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice. Seating for the fall 2021 season is general admission and specific seats cannot be reserved in advance.
Tickets are also available in person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For the 2021–22 season, all seating will be socially distanced and general admission. Specific seats cannot be selected.
While on campus, patrons must abide by all Bucknell University health and safety guidelines, including maintaining social distancing and wearing appropriate face coverings. All visitors are required to wear a face covering when indoors. We reserve the right to request that any visitors who do not follow University protocols leave the premises.
These protocols may be subject to change at any time. Please continue to visit our website for the most up-to-date information at Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter.
For more information about this event, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by e-mail at [email protected].
For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.