(Ubud, Bali; August 17, 2010)--BALAM Dance Theatre's Bali Tour 2010 is off to a soaring start celebrating the 20th anniversary of performing and collaborating with the premiere company, Semara Ratih Gamelan of Bali.

The New York City-based company's tour includes temple festival performances that are popular destinations for international visitors, as well as smaller rice farming villages. With five performances completed on the tour, the BALAM cutting-edge dance fusion that blends contemporary dance with diverse cultural movement styles and Balinese theatre has won the hearts of audiences!

Reactions have run the gamut from delighted laughter to riveted contemplation. The company ballerina, Robin Gilbert danced on point in “Tigerlily and the Dragonfly” and Toshinori Hamada used Baroque masks in his dark, mysterious trio “Sunda Upasunda-NYC Brothers”. Both pieces featured an original score created and performed live by the 25-member Semara Ratih Gamelan.

On August 15, BALAM presented a repertoire program of four pieces, including two new works, “Sleeping Buddha” and “Harlequin’s Charade”. “Sleeping Buddha” by Shelley Lynne Cummins was inspired by the life and art depictions of the Buddha, and “Harlequin’s Charade”, a surreal masked parody based on the humorous Balinese topeng dances, featured octogenarian Islene Pinder, BALAM’s founding director, in her return to the stage.



Go Behind the Scenes
Read behind the scenes stories about the tour, interviews, and the updated performance schedule and see photos and video clips at http://www.BALAMDanceTheatre.blogspot.com. Go to http://www.balamdance.org for information about the company, history, the dancers, news clips, and much more. Follow us on Facebook and join the BALAM community at http://www.facebook.com/pages/BALAM-Dan ... 2263244599.

Contact Us
For further information or to join the BALAM mailing list, contact info [at] balamdance.org.


BALAM Bali Tour 2010 Performance Schedule

• August 3 - Pura Desa of Kutuh
"Sunda Upasunda-NYC Brothers" (premiere)

• August 7 - Sanur Dance Festival
"Sunda Upasunda-NYC Brothers"

• August 12 - Village of Tegalalang
"Tigerlily and the Dragonfly"

• August 13 - Pura Dalem Padangtegel
"Ramayana-Abduction of Sita"

• August 15 - Village of Kedisan (FREE)
"Ramayana-Abduction of Sita"
"Tigerlily and the Dragonfly"
"Sleeping Buddha" (premiere)
"Sunda Upasunda-NYC Brothers"
"Harlequin's Charade" (premiere)

• August 17 - Pura Desa of Kutuh
"Sunda Upasunda-NYC Brothers"
"Ramayana-Abduction of Sita"

• August 19 - Bloo Lagoon Resort in Padangbai (http://bloolagoon.com/)
"Tigerlily and the Dragonfly"
"Sunda Upasunda-NYC Brothers"
"Amantes"
"Ramayana-Abduction of Sita"

• August 21 - Pura Dalem in Ubud
"Ramayana-Abduction of Sita"
"Tigerlily and the Dragonfly"

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