Sudamala: Full Program

Artistic Team

Sudamala Composer I Dewa Putu Berata
Guest Music Director I Dewa Putu Rai
Guest Dance Director, Sudamala Choreographer Emiko Saraswati Susilo
Special Guest Artist Rashidi Omari
Music Collaborators Peter Steele, Joseph Paddy Sandino, Carla Fabrizio, Zachary Hazen
Movement Collaborators Shoko Yamamuro, Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti, Casey Lee Sims,
I Made Moja, Ni Luh Andarawati

Artist statement

Sudamala is about healing, togetherness, and community. In Bali, sudamala is a purification ceremony. It is a way of dealing with things that are evil or unclean, especially in the spiritual realm. There are many forms of sudamala in Bali, including shadow puppet plays and other artistic performances. In this version that I have composed, Sudamala is less like a ceremony and more like a purification of the self through cooperation and community. We work together, each person with their own gifts that come from our differences in background, religion, race, and experience. We each take responsibility for bringing something beautiful to the performance, and when we gather together with the audience, they also become part of the purification. Today, we are all in community together through Sudamala.

SUDAMALA PROGRAM

Gamelan Angklung (pre-Sudamala performance)

Sekaran, a new piece composed by I Dewa Putu Rai for this performance

Gamelan Angklung is one of the most popular types of orchestras in Bali, requiring about twenty musicians. Tuned to a four-tone scale in slendro tuning, the gamelan angklung presents a cheerful, open, and rhythmically intricate musical landscape, expressed in the fluid grace of its traditional repertoire. Sekaran is a new piece from Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s Spring 2022 Guest Music Director and Artist in Residence, I Dewa Putu Rai. Sekaran is composed in a traditional style; the title is taken from the word “sekaran,” for placing flowers on the ears of a Barong, a powerful spirit in Balinese mythology.

Sudamala

Sudamala was created using a collaborative composition process led by Lead Artist I Dewa Putu Berata and choreographed by Emiko Saraswati Susilo. This process involved over sixty musicians, dancers, and artists from Sekar Jaya’s community. You can read more about the lead artists below.

Sudamala unfolds in three parts. First, Divinity, in which you will see aspects of Balinese Hindu ceremony. Next, we celebrate humanity’s relationship with Nature. The second section of Sudamala features new compositions for gamelan gong kebyar from I Dewa Putu Rai, Sekar Jaya’s Spring 2022 artist in residence. Finally, the last section of Sudamala represents Humanity. This section features special guest artist Rashidi Omari of Oakland’s Destiny Arts Center. Read more about each section of Sudamala below

DIVINITY

Tri Sandya A Balinese Hindu mantra for the opening of a ceremony
Sekar Eled An opening instrumental piece, bright and cheerful, for gamelan semar pegulingan
Composed by I Dewa Putu Berata with Carla Fabrizio and Zachary Hazen
Pengaksama A request for forgiveness in the Balinese Pe-Arja-an style
Rashidi Omari and Emiko Saraswati Susilo
Sekatian Preparation for Balinese Hindu ceremony, decoration of the ceremony space
Composed by Peter Steele
Rejang Sudamala A new work inspired by dances offered in Balinese temples
Composed by I Dewa Putu Berata, Choreographed by Emiko Saraswati Susilo
With additional movement by Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti
Topeng Sidha Karya A mask dance charged with spiritual power
Danced by I Made Moja
Composed by I Dewa Putu Berata
Ngerebeg Purification; placating of troublesome spirits with dance and kulkul bamboo instruments
Arranged by I Dewa Putu Berata

NATURE

Kembang Menit A new composition for gamelan gong kebyar
Composed by I Dewa Putu Rai
Kumbang Atarung A new composition inspired by the nature and movements of bees
Danced by Casey Lee Sims, Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti, and Anna Deering
Composed by I Dewa Putu Rai, Choreographed by Emiko Saraswati Susilo

HUMANITY

Kecak / Beatbox Balinese and African-American vocal percussion styles in playful conversation
Vocals and movement by I Dewa Putu Berata and Rashidi Omari
Connection Spoken word poetry illuminating our place in humanity’s constellation
Words and movement by Rashidi Omari
Composed by Joseph Paddy Sandino

Lead ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

I Dewa Putu Berata | Sudamala composer and Lead Artist
I Dewa Putu Berata is a renowned musician, composer, teacher, and visual artist from Bali, Indonesia. A graduate of STSI Denpasar (Bali’s National Institute of the Arts), he has been an artistic collaborator with dance troupes, theater companies, and music ensembles in several countries. He is the founder and director of Çudamani, one of Bali’s most innovative and acclaimed gamelan ensembles, which has recently engaged in its fourth major US tour, including appearances at Lincoln Center, the Juilliard School, the World Festival of Sacred Music, and Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. Çudamani has become one of the most vibrant new centers of artistic activity in Bali, endeavoring to study rare classic forms of Balinese arts and share them with hundreds of young artists. 

I Dewa Putu Rai | Spring 2022 Guest Music Director

I Dewa Putu Rai is an internationally recognized teacher, performer, and composer of traditional gamelan music from the village of Pengosekan in Bali, Indonesia. A graduate of the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Denpasar, Indonesia’s premiere higher education institution for Balinese traditional performing arts, Pak Dewa Rai has performed and had his compositions premiered on stages from Bali to Japan to the United States. He is now a musical leader of Gamelan Cudamani, one of Bali’s most active and respected performing ensembles. Cofounded by Pak Dewa Rai and his brother, I Dewa Putu Berata, Gamelan Cudamani is known for its central role in preserving Bali’s vanishing performing arts traditions, and for welcoming women into the traditionally male-dominated field of gamelan musicianship.

Emiko Saraswati Susilo | Spring 2022 Guest Dance Director

Emiko Saraswati Susilo is a choreographer, dancer, voice actor and vocalist known for her dynamic and soulful performance and for choreography that delves into questions of the contemporary world through work that is at once innovative and yet deeply rooted in tradition. She has been active in Balinese and Javanese performance for well over three decades; she began playing gamelan as a child and studied Balinese and Javanese dance under Ni Made Wiratini and the late master KRT Sasmintadipura. She has taught Balinese dance since 1992, and in 1997 became a founding member of Cudamani, where she is now Associate Director. Her work with Cudamani, one of Bali’s finest performing ensembles, has inspired many young Balinese women to study gamelan, and the organization’s accomplishments in this arena are truly historic. Susilo also works with Cudamani’s renowned company dancers, whom she often prepares for regional competition, performances at the esteemed Bali Arts Festival, and international touring.

Rashidi Omari  | Special Guest Artist

Rashidi Omari is the head choreographer and co-director of the Oakland-based Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company. A gifted educator with over 14 years teaching experience, he offers classes and workshops nationally and internationally. Rashidi has been rocking the mic since 1993 performing both nationally and internationally. He honed his skills performing with Bay Area based groups Loco Bloco, Unsmokables, Bodirock Emcees, and the trailblazing trio Company of Prophets.

​As a dancer and choreographer, Rashidi Omari is known for his magnetic mashups of traditional dance styles. Hip Hop, B-Boying, Popping, Locking, Dancehall, Lindy, House, modern, and jazz are integral parts of his extensive repertoire. Performing professionally since 1998, he has danced with DREAM, Avatar Flux, Adia Whittaker Dance Company, Liberation Dance Theater, Joanna Haigood, and Kiandanda Dance Theater among others. 

Supporting Gamelan Sekar Jaya

Since its founding in 1979, Gamelan Sekar Jaya has provided valuable cross-cultural benefits to the local community while also fostering an exchange that resonates on an international scale. GSJ introduces thousands to the Balinese arts each year and hosts an extensive education program, offering workshops and classes in schools and communities around the San Francisco Bay Area. Through our Guest Artist Residency program, GSJ has hosted over fifty Balinese musicians, many of whom have gone on to use the knowledge and resources from their residencies to found youth and community arts programs in Indonesia.

Help sustain and grow Gamelan Sekar Jaya— for our role in making the cultural landscape of the Bay Area even more vibrant and for our work in promoting meaningful cultural exchange. GSJ donors become part of our vibrant and close-knit community.

To give, please visit gsj.org/support, contact us (details below), or ask for more information at our merchandise table.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public benefit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Terima Kasih! Matur Suksma! Thank you!

www.gsj.org | info@gsj.org | 510-655-1227

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Today’s concert was made possible by a Special Award in the Arts from the Gerbode Foundation.

Critical support was provided by an Impact Project grant from the California Arts Council.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; the Walter and Elise Haas Fund; the California Arts Council; the City of Berkeley; the Alameda County Arts Council, and our generous individual supporters.

We would also like to acknowledge: 

Ensemble Coordinators: Carla Fabrizio and Casey Lee Sims (Sudamala), Katie Harrell and Steve Johnson (Angklung), Anya Rome and Anna Deering (Dance), Steve Lew (Gong Kebyar), Heather Sansky and Jason Straussman (Jegog)

Officers and Ex-Officio Members of the Board of Directors: Susanna Benningfield (president), Junichi Shimaoka (vice president), Carla Fabrizio (secretary), Todd Greenspan (treasurer)

Board of Directors: Lisa Ho and Suliati Boentaran (co-chairs), Emily Rolph (secretary), I Wayan Dibia, Rachel Cooper, Jim Hogan, Michael Tenzer, Rebecca Selin, Samuel Wantman, N. Bruce Pickering, Suzanne Siskel, Rose Nisker

Staff: Gillian Irwin (General Manager), Kanya Aiko Abe (Program and Administrative Assistant)

sudamala Performers

Gamelan Angklung, directed by I Dewa Putu Rai
Andy Gold
Ben Vu
Matthew Macgillivray
Debbie Lloyd
Steph Ramaley
Scott Barnes
Katie Harrell
Dillon Ingram
Phil Cox
Carla Fabrizio
Colum Keelaghan
Micah Lubensky
Maddie Hogan
Steve Johnson
James Weisner
I Dewa Putu Berata
Peter Steele

Gamelan Semar Pegulingan, directed by I Dewa Putu Berata
I Dewa Putu Rai, composition collaborator
Carla Fabrizio, cellist and composition collaborator
Joseph Paddy Sandino, composition collaborator
Peter Steele, composition collaborator
Zachary Hazen, violist
Alexis Renninger
Austin de Rubira
Emily Rolph
Evan Gilman
Jason Straussman
Paul Miller
Clarence Magno
Dewa Sanjaya
Dillon Ingram
Junichi Shimaoka
Katherine Zhou
Keenan Pepper
Katie Harrell
Nami Murata
Phil Cox
Raymond Fabrizio
Steph Ramaley
Verena Lee

Gamelan Gong Kebyar, directed by I Dewa Putu Rai

Steve Lew
Steve Johonson
Galen Rogers
Eva-Maria Zimmerman
Bea Deering
Susanna Miller Benningfield
Walter Hangad
Todd Greenspan
Marianna Cherry
Carla Fabrizio
Clarence Magno
Dillon Ingram
Junichi Shimaoka
Katherine Zhou
Katie Harrell
Keenan Pepper
Nami Murata
Peter Steele
Phil Cox
Steph Ramaley
Verena Lee
Zachary Hazen
I Dewa Putu Berata
Dewa Sanjaya
Ray Fabrizio
I Made Putrayasa
Ketut Menjoel

Sudamala Dance Ensemble, directed by Emiko Saraswati Susilo

Shoko Yamamuro, choreography collaborator
Casey Lee Sims, choreography collaborator
Dewa Ayu Dewa Larassanti, choreography collaborator
Ni Luh Andarawati, choreography collaborator
I Made Moja, choreography collaborator
Anna Deering
Lisa Ho
Elizabeth Grant
Melati Citrawireja
Ratih Ayu Apsari
Feby Boediarto
Suli Boentaran
Michelle Johnstone
Kunti Triwardhani
Ambar Briastuti
Monali Varaiya
Ade Ratih
Ilma Davina
Made Yoni
Made Sukerti
Ketut Sri Laksmi
Lia Sims
Nami Murata
Ni Made Yoni
Sasha Friedlander
Alaya Ellis Corbridge
Lisa Graciano
Emilia Shen
Kadek Swarda
Adi

Krama Bali

I Made Moja
I Made Putrayasa
I Ketut Menjoel
I Nyoman Walet
I Wayan Leger
I Gede Oka Artha Negara