lost T some point or other everyone who is full
terested in dancing comes across one of to °se illustrated books, which arc the pride every public library, and discovers Bali. lag Or weeks afterwards all the sylphides and vans are banished from the imagination esi- nd the entranced explorer walks about in daze straining his eyes, hoping that by MiS 'me miracle the gamelan orchestra will play or him and the golden girls with their (Aver-covered headdresses will dance. But all this was a long time ago, Ralf is_ of like that any more. in this paradise of tWe, dance and drama Japanese invaders
d tiresome nationalist politicians have aised ugly heads and, judging from Mr. oast's book, he had to look very hard before
e could find any dancing at all. Having ventuility found musicians, teachers and °tential dancers in various places, he anaged to work them into a presentable °InPany and after long and involved hogs with officials and impresarios he as able to take them on a long tour.
Mr. Coast makes no attempt to describe he importance of dancing in the religion nd history of Bali and assumes that his ders know what it is all about. He is IY concerned with the present situation. The entertaining part of the book is the nay the dancers are presented as human beings and not as mystic interpreters of messages from the gods. As a record, !ternately amusing and pathetic, of how 'entact can be made between the Indonesian and the British or American mind, the book is interesting, although the treatment is rarely more than superficial. In one sense this book is an important reminder that dancing, at its best, is not a mere entertainment, but a part of existence and something that reflects immediately any profound change in the life of a country.
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