Oh the beautiful music...

I am finally feeling settled in this sweet little spot in Paradise. I went away a few days ago for a night and I must say it felt like I was home when I arrived back. The days have been hot and lazy, not the best conditions for getting a lot done, but lovely for slowing me down.

            A few nights ago we went to a Kecak performance in Ubud.  Kecak is a very unique and beautiful form of traditional Balinese singing. Men almost solely perform this type of singing, but we were lucky enough to see one of the first groups of women on the island. It was amazing! I could have sat and listened to them forever. Just imagine, it was night and we were all sitting underneath an ancient Banyan tree in a space almost resembling an amphitheater. The performance began with a group of women coming down the steps in front of us chanting “chek, chek, chek-a-chek, chek” and holding torches. They formed a large circle with three rows around about eight flaming torches that were in the center. There must have been at least 50 women, all singing a percussive and chaotic rhythm that was complemented by a small group of them singing a more melodic chant. Every so often they would change the beat or the beat would stop all together and they would all sing in harmony.

In the center of the circle there was a theatrical dance with amazing traditional costumes, but honestly I hardly noticed it because I was so taken by the women singing. I sat there enchanted by their voices and sheer beauty of the moment: A circle of women glowing in the torchlight. After the performance we were all trying to describe what it was that was so incredible about the performance. The word we came up with was “raw”. I felt like I had stepped back in time and was witnessing some tribal ceremony, primal and full of life. But the crazy thing is I hadn’t stepped back in time at all, this is the present here on this small island. That type of ceremony is not some far off thing that humans used to do once; here it is their lives. It’s constant and a gift to have the chance to be a part of it, if just for a moment….