Production Details

Contemporary and Traditional Gender Wayang
Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s Gender Wayang ensemble, led by Guest Music Director Ni Nyoman Srayamurtikanti, performs new and traditional Balinese music and dance, with Guest Dance Director I Made Suteja presenting a rare performance of Wayang Wong dance.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya
Gamelan Sekar Jaya (GSJ) was founded in 1979, its mission to foster artistic exchange between the United States and Bali, Indonesia through workshops, artist residencies, performances, and the creation of innovative new works for music and dance. Purnamasari, formed in 2013, has a close relationship with Gamelan Sekar Jaya, with most of its musicians participating in both ensembles. Purnamasari integrates Indonesian gamelan instruments and ideas into original guitar-based songs and compositions. The two ensembles share the goal of cross-cultural music-making, artistic exchange, and supporting valuable musical and cultural traditions that are at risk of being lost.

Artist Biographies

Ni Nyoman Srayamurtikanti
Ni Nyoman Srayamurtikanti, often called “Mang Sraya",” is the daughter of I Nyoman Suryadi, a natural artist, composer, and singer from Celuk Village in Sukawati, Gianyar, Bali. Srayamurtikanti has studied Balinese gamelan since elementary school from various master teachers, including her father, I Ketut Cater, I Made Subandi, and others. Her education has focused on the arts from her studies at SMKN 3 Sukawati, an arts specialty high school, and Denpasar’s Institute for Indonesian Arts (Institut Seni Indonesia or ISI Denpasar). Srayamurtikanti finished her master’s degree in music composition at the Surakarta branch of the Institute for Indonesian Arts in 2022, just before her GSJ residency. Srayamurtikanti is also the head of Sanggar S’mara Murti, originally founded by her father. Srayamurtikanti began composing in 2017, and her works are based on the intersection of tradition and innovation in Balinese arts. Srayamurtikanti has represented Indonesia at events across Southeast Asia, and her music has been featured in regional, national, and international events. In 2020, she was a featured guest in Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s Bali’s Living Arts speaker series.

I Made Suteja
Internationally acclaimed gambuh and mask dancer, I Made Suteja is more popularly known as “Made Cat” because he is also a talented traditional painter (“cat” meaning paint in Indonesian). He comes from a line of acclaimed masters in the arts of topeng and gambuh dance, and painting in Batuan, Bali. He began studying dance under his father, I Made Bukel, who in turn learned from his father, one of Bali’s most famous performers, I Nyoman Kakul. Made’s performance career started as a young baris dancer in the local temples and soon he was often invited to represent the Gianyar province in the Bali Arts Festival’s gong kebyar competitions. Starting in 2004, he began specializing in the topeng and gambuh traditions of his family’s dance school, Sanggar Satriya Lelana Batuan, and is now a frequent performer oftopeng pajegan. In addition to working for Satriya Lelana, he also performs in Gambuh Pura Desa Batuan, where he plays the characters of Arya, Kadean-Kadean, Panji and Prabu. With this group, he has toured Italy, Algeria, Poland, and Denmark, where he appeared in Odin Theater’s production of Hamlet under the direction of Eugenio Barba. Aside from dance, Made received his undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from Institut Seni Indonesia Denpasar and is a reputable artist in the traditional school of Batuan painting. His days are spent painting, performing, and teaching in his home, where many Balinese and international students come to learn topeng, baris, jauk, and gambuh dances.