The International Body Music Festival has become the meeting ground for the various styles of global Body Music. Since 2008, the IBMF has traveled the world...

© Bali Discovery Tours. Article quoted from balidiscovery.com – link to article

Bali’s epic kecak dance traces its roots to the 1930s when Wayan Limbak first staged it in artistic collaboration with Walter Spies. With gripping coordination of movement and sound, it draws on trance dance and Hindu epics, elevating and wildly entertaining by turns.

In admiration for the kecak, Body Musician Keith Terry is no exception: “I’ve been collaborating with Balinese artists for more than three decades, and have always been particularly drawn to their Body Music style, Kecak. The interlocking vocal patterns, coupled with synchronized movement, story, humor, plus the incorporation of new ideas, specifically my own Body Music style, into the genre, has been a thrilling, ongoing intercultural collaboration.”

Now, cultural explorers will get a rare opportunity to live and breathe the art form in its place of origin, as the 7th International Body Music Festival (IBMF) in Bali, Indonesia.

For 9 days (July 3-12, 2015), participants will stay at the Suly Resort in Ubud, travel to villages, see exceptional concerts, participate in workshops led by local kecak performers and International Body Music artists, as well as enjoy traditional cuisine, study gamelan, tour cultural hotspots, and savor the beaches and spas.

The International Body Music Festival has become the meeting ground for the various styles of global Body Music. Since 2008, the IBMF has traveled the world from Brazil to Turkey to Italy, returning every two to its home base of San Francisco.

“

Music you can see and dance you can hear”, the Festival is a moving hub for performers who engage with humanity’s first instrument: the body itself. The shushing of palms, the snapping of fingers, the stomping of feet, and the seemingly infinite potential of the throat and mouth have inspired people worldwide to create moving music, audible dance. Tap, stepping, hambone, flamenco, beatbox, every style that forefronts the sounds of bodies in motion. It’s the oldest music on the planet, and each performance is brand new.

In addition to concerts, workshops, cultural collaborations, after parties, the 7th IBMF Bali will culminate in a colossal Kecak, featuring 400 Balinese artists. Participants have full access to all events, plus resort lodging, ground transportation and meals.

“If you’re curious about Balinese culture, if you’re drawn to the music and dance, there is no better opportunity to experience it from the inside out than this edition of the International Body Music Festival”, explains Terry, the festival’s founder and artistic driving force. “The community celebrates the music and dance coming solely from the instrument we all share. It transcends cultural boundaries and provides in-roads to cross-cultural experience. This particular IBMF will give participants the opportunity to delve deep into a rich local cultural experience, unlike any other Bali vacation”.

Confirmed teachers/performers:

• Corposonic (USA)
• Barbatuques (BRAZIL)
• Pedro Consorte (BRAZIL)
• Cambuyón (Canary Islands, Spain)
• Cudamani (Bali)
• Wayan Dibia (Bali)

Keith Terry is a percussionist/rhythm-dancer/educator whose artistic vision has straddled the line between music and dance for more than four decades. As a soloist he has appeared in such settings as Lincoln Center, Bumbershoot, NPR’s All Things Considered, PRI’s The World, the Vienna International Dance Festival and the Paradiso van Slag World

For more information visit the International Body Music Festival Website