Dancing Out of Bali

A delightful read of a place where I also live. When so many mediocre books have been coming out about the beauties of every kind of Indonesian art and cultural practice (written by people with no real idea of what their talking about or describing narcissistic New Age quests for paradise)--this book has something meaningful to say. I enjoyed it immensely. It's full of life.

Dancing Out of BaliJohn CoastDancing out of Bali tells the story of how a young Englishman, John Coast, brought a troupe of 44 Balinese dancers and musicians from a remote village in Bali to London's West End and New York's Broadway. This was in 1952. It is the account of a man's burning ambition and a brilliant piece of anthropological, historical and cultural writing. And a great introduction to anyone visiting the island.When he was a Japanese prisoner of war, John staged Indonesian dance performances in the prison camp to entertain fellow prisoners. After the war, he returned to England. Restless and bored, he left for Bali at the age of 34. Indonesia had just won independence from the Dutch after four long years of fighting. This was 1950.I remember hearing about a white man, Tuan Coast, living in the area where I was going to school. I used to see him driving about in his battered jeep. There were not many jeeps, and even fewer foreigners in those days. I had no idea what he was doing. I now know he was fulfilling a lifetime's ambition.There was turmoil at that time in Bali between those for and those against independence. On a visit to one of the Balinese princes, John once spotted a cocked revolver in a briefcase. The prince had supported Dutch colonialism. That was not popular with the independence fighters and they were the ones now in control. Even John slept with a gun under his pillow.The leader of the freedom struggle was the charismatic, half-Balinese Sukarno. He became the country's first President. He had many political enemies. Sukarno supported John's mission and John thereby became embroiled in Indonesian politics. He lived simply on not much money, like a real Balinese. He learnt the language and ran a small guesthouse. He understood Bali's culture and beautifully describes Balinese ceremonies, dances and music. He did not shy away from controversies in the book, such as the role of the caste system in Bali. Many of the controversies are still hot topics. John supported Indonesian independence. The new Indonesian government appointed him press agent and gave him the grand title of "Technical Expert on Cultural Relations and Information for Countries Abroad." He knew President Sukarno and describes what it was like to be with the great leader and attend his rousing speeches.The last time the world had seen Balinese dance was in 1931 at the Colonial Exhibition in Paris. It was a great success. It was John's passion to make sure that the world would once again experience the breathtaking beauty of Balinese dance, costumes and music.He revived the moribund Peliatan dance troupe and brought in new dancers. A 12-year-old Balinese girl named Raka, who was a beautiful legong dancer, became the star. He sought out the retired dancer and choreographer, Mario, and persuaded him to create a new dance especially for Raka. It's still danced today. It's the Bumblebee Dance. The book is full of tales of persistence against the odds. It is i