August 24, 2025
One of the things I love most about Puri Lumbung, our final hotel in Munduk, Bali is that it’s not just a hotel for guests. It’s all a place the community uses, too: they grow and harvest rice here, and it’s the where dance classes are held for the local children.
I always want my students to have a chance to watch the children dance.
After a morning filled whatever each group member wanted to do—sit on their balconies and write, finish an art project, return to the waterfall and climb back into water, get body work (it’s excellent here), attend a “how to make offerings” class, go on a vigorous hike through a rain forest full of giant strangling fig trees (that’s what I did), or just hang out, I told my students to meet me at 2:45 to watch the start of the children’s dance class, held each Saturday at 3:00 pm.
Here are a couple of the girls arriving for class.
These moms were waiting as moms do all over the world, cell phones in hand.
When Phyllis from our group arrived, she immediately engaged with the children—she’s been a professional clown for much of her life.
Then it was time for dance class to begin. Today only got to see the girls practice; there were no boys there class.
I loved watching the teacher correct the girls dancing. I never tired of watching the amazing things the girls do with their fingers and eyes. Be sure to turn up your sound to watch their class in progress.
We stayed for two songs. It was really hard to tear ourselves away so we could have our penultimate writing class, but we quietly filed out. I signaled my students to follow me and led them to a brand new spot to meet on the edge of the Puri Lumbung property.
Once they were settled, I had them write about what in their life, at this moment, they want or need to let go of. The prompt was, “I’m letting go of….”
We read these pieces in turn, witnessing each other’s declarations and supporting each other’s intentions with a stunning backdrop behind us.
It was powerful to witness the release of what each of us wanted to let go of.
After writing class, Surya joined us to give a special demonstration on the basic moves of Balinese dance, to help us understand what we’d just seen, and what we’d witnessed earlier in the trip, and also to prepare for the final performance of dance from the village that will close out our trip tomorrow night.
Surya began his training as a dancer as a child, and still performs for Temple festivals. He said he can now can perform nine of the main stock characters that appear in Balinese dance.
I never tire of watching Surya give this demo. Only this time, many of my students stood up and tried it themselves. I loved their willingness to try. And so did he.
I’ve always wondered what role dance plays in the lives of the Balinese. Obviously, Balinese dancers regularly perform for tourists, but I wanted to know how the Balinese relate to dance themselves, away from the tourist scene.
Surya explained that dance, music, shadow puppets, and singing are a crucial part of every ceremony, ritual, and temple festival in Bali. The Balinese use these arts forms to praise the Gods, to pass on sacred stories to the next generation, and to teach morals.
The same basic stories are performed again and again, most from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, but Surya said he never tires of them because there is always a different interpretation by the artist. Although these are classic spiritual stories, improvisation is definitely allowed.
One of the women in the group announced that she’s set up a Balinese dance class for anyone in our group who wants to have a lesson tomorrow during the afternoon of our last full day in Bali, as a gift to the group. I love her generous gesture.
I just checked my watch. It’s time for another delicious family style dinner served to the sound of the gamelan. I’ve got to wrap up this post.
Our final writing group is tomorrow morning—stay tuned.