Performing Arts in Postmodern Bali

This collection of articles covers recent phenomena in the revival and modernization of a broad variety of Balinese performing arts in both old and new contexts, seen through a postmodern lens. The only one of its kind in more than a decade, this collection brings together authors from five continents, all of them experts in the ethnomusicological study of Balinese performing arts.For as long as Balinese performing arts development is documented, outside and inside trends have always been incorporated into existing music and dance traditions. Sometimes such new creations have evolved into new genres, supplanting older forms. Others have quickly died out again, or led to a revival of preceding genres.Contributors to this volume investigate how Balinese tradition is interpreted and re-interpreted through this constant change, and in which ways Balinese artists reflect upon what is 'Balinese' in postmodern times.The Authors and their Contributions:Kendra Stepputat: IntroductionLisa Gold: Time and Place Conflated - Zaman dulu (a Bygone Era) and an Ecological Approach to Change in Balinese Shadow Play MusicKendra Stepputat: Using Different Keys - Dalang Made Sidia's Contemporary Approach to Traditional Balinese Performing ArtsI Wayan Dibia: Topeng - Masked Dance Theatre in Globalized BaliSonja Downing: Strategies of Modernity and Traditionalism in Women's GamelansI Wayan Sudirana: Borrowing, Stealing, Transforming - Cross-cultural Influences in Balinese Neo-Traditional CompositionMashino Ako: Between Classic and Modern - The Aesthetic and Social Evolution of Balinese Arja from the 1990s to the 2010sMade Mantle Hood: Finding Your 'Gedig' - Revivalism in Balinese Improvised Paired DrummingDavid Harnish: Between Traditionalism and Postmodernism - The Balinese Performing Arts Institution, ÇudamaniSarah Weiss: Perspectives on Balinese Authenticities - Sanggar Çudamani's Odalan BaliChristopher J. Miller: A Different Kind of Modernism - The Sound Exploration of Pande Made