The Collegian

Issue date: 10/23/08 Section: Arts

His head sank into his shoulders as he hunched downward, bowing his legs and pushing his heels together; his arms rose and his fingers began vibrating. With a look he became an old man, the character of a traditional Indonesian dance called Topeng Tua.

Almost 10,000 miles from his hometown of Denpassar, Bali, I Made Suryasa (pronounced ee-mah-day-sur-ee-yah-sah) demonstrated the movements of Balinese Topeng dance to 10 students in an acting class Monday.

Suryasa, a Balinese mask dancer, is a visiting instructor on Hillsdale's campus Oct. 19 to Oct. 25.

Hosted by the theatre department, he is teaching this week's lessons in Acting III, a class focused on physical movement, as well as several modern dance workshops.

Theatre Professor George Angell invited him to teach at Hillsdale after Suryasa led a Balinese cultural tour that Angell attended during his sabbatical last semester.

Suryasa has been dancing since he was 8, when his mother encouraged him to take free lessons at the community hall.

He now lives in California, leads cultural tours around Southeast Asia, teaches seminars on Balinese dance to tourists and students and performs at temple ceremonies when he's home in Bali.

Among Indonesia's 6,000 predominantly Muslim inhabited islands, Bali stands out for its differences, Suryasa said.

In Bali, the second most-common vocation after farming is art. Craftsmen and dancers abound.

Suryasa credits this to Bali's religious climate.

"Bali is the only Hindu-Buddhist island slap in the middle of all this Islam," Suryasa said, "which makes everything about the gods and goddesses."

Topeng masked dance is an integral part of the Balinese religious culture.

Topeng performers, who are both dancer and actor, largely dance stories from Hindu mythology.

"There are two or three particular stories that practically everybody knows. They're basically like Bible stories in our culture and everyone dances them," Angell said.

The dances are normally a part of temple ceremonies, which can occur as often as every day.

"Everything [the Balinese] do all day is connected to their religion," Angell said.

A Topeng dancer acts a character and tells a story, which may be as simple as an old man looking for an umbrella, as in the Topeng Tua. The dancers learn some basic movements, but otherwise, improvise.

"Balinese dance throws your balance off like only one Western dance, ballet," Suryasa said. "The idea is to create a surprise. You look almost like a puppet."

A gamelan - a kind of Indonesian musical ensemble that includes xylophones, gongs, and drums - accompanies Topeng dancers. The music follows the dancer, contrary to typical western dance.

"The dancer always has control over the musician," Suryasa said.

The word "topeng" means "mask" in Indonesia, and the Balinese are renowned as the greatest mask carvers in the world, Angell said.

Topeng masks are carved from wood and painted. There are several styles of mask that represent traditional characters, such as the storyteller, the old man or the comical demon, but each one is unique.

"The Balinese have a very particular way of training a performer to do these movements and a very different perspective on mask work," Angell said. "Since the acting class is focused on movement, and includes a mask segment, it seemed like a great opportunity to bring Suryasa here."

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