April 19th

Ratna Ayu

In this performance, the individuals involved are wearing bright pink and purple clothing. The lights beaming on the performers are a dim, purple color. Their clothing style resembles that of the characters in the movie Aladdin, primarily Princess Jasmin. The ensemble is made up of men and women, yet women make up the team of dancers. They are seen performing a synchronized dance routine where one (out of the five) seems to be acting out separate moves from the others. Apparently, the woman performing her own dance routine is being praised or worshiped by the other dancers. Towards the end of the performance, she is lifted (as if she were a queen) and carried out off the stage. To the far right of the performance stage, we are able to see various people playing gongs. This group is made up of both men and women. On the far left of the stage, we see another group of individuals playing different instruments. They seem to be playing some types of membranophones or idiophones. These instruments have a much higher pitch and are heard much louder than the instruments on the right side of the stage. Overall, the polyphonic texture of the song is relaxing and the melody is soothing. The setting of the performance leans more toward the feminine side, given that the dancers are female and the primary colors shown are purple and pink.

Gamelan Bali Nyepi

In contrast to the Ratna Ayu performance, the Gamelan Bali Nyepi ensemble does not contain people dancing to the beat of the song. All of the performers are sitting very close to each other, all playing some sort of instrument. A lot of them seem to be playing instruments resembling gongs. From the visible footage, it appears that the entire group is male, whereas in the Ratna Ayu the main actors of the show were female. As oppose to the Ratna Ayu performance, where group members wore bright pink/purple clothing, the individuals in this ensemble are wearing plain, white outfits. This performance also seems to be taking place outside, in nature, as oppose to the Ratna Ayu presentation, which took place on a formal stage. The actual melody and rhythm seems to follow a pretty structured path. The beat speeds up for a couple seconds, slows down, then speeds up again. This process occurs a couple time throughout the song.