University of Virginia Library

MUSIC

Balinese Most Unusual

By TERI TOWE

As the last event of its
1972-1973 season, the
Tuesday Evening Concert
Series presented the Topeng
Dance Theater of Ball,
certainly the most unusual
concert, for lack of a more
exact term, that I have
attended in the three years
that I have been at the
University of Virginia.

Topeng is a classic,
highly sophisticated and
sensitive Balinese dance
form in which pantomine
and minute gestures play an
integral part. It is also,
evidently, a popular art
form, and there is a rather
incongruous but most
pleasant mixture of the
humorous and the sublime.

Each dancer plays many
parts, and character
identification depends
wholly on the elaborate
masks the dancers wear.
Some of the masks, those
worn by the comic
characters, are half masks
which allow those wearing
them to speak clearly and
act as narrators.

The dances are
improvisational to a certain
degree and are accompanied
by a gamelan orchestra
which keys the music it
plays to the dancers'
gestures. The music was
quite loud, and, even
though improvisational to a
great degree, became rather
monotonous after a while. I
will admit, however, that
my ears are not keenly
attuned to oriental music,
and I may have missed a
great deal of the subtleties in
the orchestra's
performances, which even I
could tell were superbly
executed. The dancing, too,
was excellent, full of detail,
subtlety, and splendid mime
gestures.

I applaud the Tuesday
Evening Concert Series for
booking these enchanting
Balinese dancers, and I urge
the Program Committee to
continue to book unusual
groups like this one in
future years.