Susan Walton, director

A distinguished musician from Java, Indonesia, Pak Widodo, will be leading the University of Michigan Gamelan Ensemble and two guest dancers in a performance of Javanese traditional music and dance. The elegant and refined dance movements depicting ancient epic stories will be accompanied by the traditional musical sounds of a full gamelan ensemble.

Often lauded as the pinnacle of aesthetic achievement in Indonesia, Javanese dance is one of the world’s great classical dance forms. Gamelan music has been indispensable to the important Javanese rituals and cultural forms throughout history. The glittering cast bronze instruments of the gamelan ensemble match every detail of the dancing with elaborate musical responses embedding ritualistic power.

This performance is sponsored by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, the Indonesian Government, the Residential College, and SMTD.