National Geographic: Bali - Masterpiece of the Gods Page #2

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Making them is not really work

Our belief in God makes it pleasurable

Mr. Tubuh's daughter, Deni

has come from her home next door to help

Soon she will move here

she and the Kantors' eldest son plan

to marry

Everyday the woman place offerings

throughout the compound to appease

the gods and spirits

These, made of rice dough are specially

prepared for a temple celebration

After school village boys congregate

at the Kantors' home to learn to dance

In Bali

children dance like American youngsters

play baseball

Kantor has been dancing at religious

festivals since he was a boy

His sons are accomplished dancers, too

But today they play gamelan

the shimmering music of gongs

metallophones, cymbals, and drums

that accompanies all religious

and theatrical events

Mr. Kantor's father

the late Nyoman Kakul

was one of the most famous

Balinese dancers of his day

He also taught dance to many of the

royal families

Recalling historic battles

the baris dance emulates

the fierce poses

and frightening expressions of

the warrior

Teaching dance

Kantor fulfills his obligation

to his community

and his father's legacy

A system of water temples high

in the mountains

coordinates rice farming for the

entire island

The farmers are organized into subaks

age-old cooperatives that insure

even the lowest terraces receive their

share of water

Mr. Kantor's father bought rice paddies

with money he earned touring world

capitals in a Balinese dance troupe

My father taught me how to read the fields

use the cows

and the best time to plant

When we work and prepare the land

it unifies and makes us one with the land

As with every major event in Balinese life

a propitious day is selected for the

seedlings to be planted

Rituals will ensure protection

by the deities

and the rice will be watched

as closely as a developing child

Every morning and again

when the day's work is done

the Balinese baths in village

or local streams

For centuries

the highly productive rice-growing system

has freed the relentlessly

creative Balinese

to perfect the arts that serve

their community

On an auspicious night

Mr. Kantor will present topeng

a masked dance-drama

for his ancestral gods

With offerings

he requests permission from the ancestors

to perform and use the masks

He says

These are sacred masks that were used

by my father

gifts from priest and kings

Some are 200 years old

The first time I performed

outside my village

my father arranged for a special

ceremony

for my thoughts and feelings to become

one with the masks

When my father died

I dreamed he asked me to dance

at the temple

I took this mean that he gave me

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