Dynamic cultural show kicks off Bali Arts Festival

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

A vibrant cultural parade showcasing more than 1,500 performers on Saturday afternoon saw the beginning of the 29th month-long Arts Festival (PKB), the biggest and most influential annual cultural gathering on the resort island.

Highlighting the rich diversity of the island's cultural heritage, the parade featured each of the island's nine regencies performing their own unique dances, musical compositions and performing arts.

Thousands of spectators including groups of Western visitors lined up along the wide Puputan street in Renon to see the procession.

The parade's main performing area was next to the Puputan Margarana square where the bell-shaped Bajra Sandhi monument provided a backdrop for artists as they performed before an elevated wooden stage that hosted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and scores of VIPs.

The parade was started after President Susilo officially opened the PKB by sounding a traditional wooden bell or kul-kul.

Earlier in his opening speech, Yudhoyono praised the island and its people as the guardian of a large number of precious and unique cultural treasures.

"Lets show the world that Bali is indeed the Island of the Gods as well as the most beautiful island of all," Yudhoyono said.

"We can achieve that by preserving the strength and uniqueness of the island, such as its arts and cultural treasures, its natural beauty and its living spirituality."

He also asked the Balinese to maintain the security of the island as well as the Balinese people's well-known hospitality.

Those things were critical in the effort to rehabilitate the island's tourism industry, he said.

Toward the end of his speech, Yudhoyono reminded the Balinese the country needed to develop a environmental-based tourism trade and a heritage-based economy.

"We must be able to develop and transform the God-given gifts -- rich cultural and historical heritage, diverse local traditions and natural beauty -- into a productive ecotourism and heritage economy," he stressed.

Students from the Denpasar's Indonesia Arts Institute (ISI) started the parade by performing the PKB's official dance of Siwa Nataraja.

The dance was a homage to Lord Siwa, who in Hindu mythology created the universe through his cosmic dance.

The dance was soon followed by various colorful performances from every regency in Bali.

Yudhoyono and first lady Kristiani Herawati were seen laughing as the Gianyar regency's Rina troupe performed a humorous take on the well-known kecak dance.

Spectators gave rousing applause to the parade's visiting participants, including troupes from China, Japan and several other provinces in Indonesia.

The warmest response was received by the East Java troupe, which performed a vivacious folkdance from Sumenep regency.

The PKB is set to run until July 14 at the Taman Budaya Bali in Denpasar.

The program is due to feature 187 events, including 110 performances, six parades and eight competitions and will involve more than 13,000 performers.