In Bedulu village, 5 km from our house f studio, there is a foundation “Widya Guna Foundation”. The foundation was established for underprivileged children to receive educations. Each student in is sponsored by a foreign person who became his/her adoptive parents, and then by the foundation take care of shelter and other needs.
In addition to learning of general education also taught specifically related to the Balinese culture, to play gamelan for the male, and dancing for the female.
Earlier this foundation has a dance and gamelan teachers, but in some time until last year, because the teachers were so busy, the activities of Balinese art lessons stopped for some period, but it is also caused the foundation did not already has their own gamelan, and still have to borrow from the local group of the Banjar.
In 2009 the Foundation received donations from the Church of St. Paul, Fremantle, Australia, for the procurement of Gamelan. So a set of Bali gamelan was bought with type of Gamelan Semara Pegulingan Saih Pitu.
To reactivate the learning art activities was called three gamelan teachers from Teges Kanginan (pretty close to Bedulu).
m knows all of these teachers, and she was asked to be the dance teacher, and since July 1, 2011 till now actively teaching Bali dance at the foundation.
In the dance learning activities, students are grouped into several groups:
SD (small class) learn to dance Gabor, Condong
SD (large class) learning Legong Lasem
Junior high, high school, learn Legong Jobog
Likewise with gamelan group:
Group A (small classes) Elementary School
Group B (class of) Elementary School, Junior high school.
Some students from group B had studied gamelan with teachers before, but group A starting from the basic!
Great efforts and appreciation to these teachers, Mr. Mardana, Mr. Surama, Mr. Marda and other teachers who helped teaching, with a sense of spirit, capable of making students able play the gamelan of Legong Lasem, Legong Jobog, Mask Dance, Rejang Dance, and some classical instrumentals Semara Pegulingan such as Tabuh Gari, Sekar Mas, Sinom, and Gambang Kuta.
In December 2011, this group was performing in Ubud, they performed the Gabor Dance, Legong Lasem dance, and the Legong Jobog.
