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| Photographer: Devi Pride |
I Gede Oka Artha Negara is the founder and director of Gamelan Artha Negara. He is an accomplished composer, musician, choreographer and dancer from Bali, Indonesia. From 1992-2011 he was the Associate Artistic Director and a leading performer in Gamelan Suar Agung, acknowledged as one of the finest and most influential Jegog ensembles in Bali.
Suar Agung is credited with promoting the rebirth of bamboo music and has gained a reputation as a leading contributor to the genre in their activities of preserving, presenting and teaching rare forms of bamboo music. They have recorded several CDs and VCDs, and appeared in a 1998 documentary film about Zakir Hussain and his exploration of rhythmic ensembles throughout the world, titled "Zakir and His Friends".
A graduate of ISI (Bali's National Academy of the Arts), Gede considers it his mission to spread appreciation and knowledge of Jegog music around the globe. He began studying Balinese performing arts as a child in West Bali in the village of Sangkar Agung, Negara, under the tutelage of his father I Ketut Suwentra, a renowned artist and the founder and director of Suar Agung. He continued his studies at ISI, where he specialized in composition and bamboo music.
Gede has taught and performed internationally. Some of his career highlights have been leading Suar Agung to prominent festivals throughout Indonesia and abroad such as the International Gamelan Festival in Amsterdam, Holland (2007). He performed with Suar Agung for the opening of the 2008 World Cup in France, has toured in Japan many times, and danced as an independent artist in Singapore and Thailand. Most recently, he was invited to the United States twice, first in 2010 as a guest artist with Gamelan Sekar Jaya in Oakland, CA and then in 2011 to perform with Song of Dharma for the opening of the Bali Exhibit at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum.
On May 26th, 2011, Gede started a new chapter of his life when he married an American dancer, Pilates, and yoga instructor, Sarah Kristine Bolton. On November 1, 2011 Gede obtained his green card, becoming a United States Resident. Then on May 12, 2012 his "Balifornian" son, Tristan, was born. Gede hopes that his kickstarter campaign will enable him to continue his artistic career in the United States and bring much joy and happiness to the American people.
Sarah is a Santa Cruz local. She grew up dancing at Elaine's Dance Studio, Celeste Mealey's Dance Theater and performing and choreographing for musicals at Harbor and Santa Cruz High School. She attended Cabrillo College where she studied studio art and dance while concurrently studying and performing with Spector Dance Company in Monterey.
From 2001-2006 after receiving her MFA in Dance from Long Beach State University, Sarah lived in the San Francisco Bay Area dancing with local companies such as Anima Mundi, Jenice Acosta Movers, Rebecca Gilbert, Amber McCall Movement Media, Printz Dance Project, and Zari Leon Dance Theater. In addition to dancing, Sarah was a Pilates Instructor and Multi-Site Director for Club One. She trained a wide variety of clients including dancers and actors from The Black Rider, Wicked, Mambo Kings, White Christmas, and Wicked. Sarah's love of dance and academia lured her to Mills College in 2006 to obtain her Masters Degree in Dance Performance & Choreography.
Mills College gave Sarah the opportunity to study with many inspiring teachers and choreographers such as Molissa Fenley, Sonia Delwaide, Shelley Senter, Tammy Cheney, and Li Ciao Ping whom she had the opportunity to tour and perform with in Madison, Wisconsin. At Mills, Sarah debuted her first group performance piece, Becoming, and published her first theoretical research paper on dance which investigated gender and performance by comparing and contrasting three prominent lesbian choreographers; Ann Bluthenthal, Krissy Keefer, and Terry Sendgraff.
Upon graduating, Sarah immediately began teaching at College of San Mateo. She has choreographed numerous modern, ballet, and jazz pieces for the College's dance concerts. In 2010, she took a leave of absence to travel to Bali Indonesia to spend time getting to know her future husband, I Gede Oka Artha Negara. During her stay she took Balinese dance lessons from Ibu Arini (who is acknowledged as one of the "national treasures" of Bali. Sarah also performed an improvisational dance piece to the live accompaniment of Suar Agung. The performance was filmed by TVRI (the national television station of the republic of Indonesia) and clips of the dance where used in a documentary of Suar Agung which aired on national television.
Upon returning to the United States, Sarah has continued her study of Balinese dance with Gamelan Sekar Jaya and with Gede. In 2011 Sarah & Gede performed together with Song of Dharma for the opening of the Asian Art Museum's Bali Exhibit and toured locally performing at Yoshi's (SF), Nexus (Pt.Richmond), and the Zen Center (Santa Rosa). Sarah looks forward to creating more work with Gede and exploring the fusion of Balinese and Modern dance.
