Raising Funds for Yogya Relief: Ubud, Bali

The devastating earthquake that shook Central Java and Yogyakarta on Saturday May 27, 2006, claimed over 6,000 lives and damaged a number of important heritage sites.

'Raising the Roof for Yogya Friends' is a special performance of Javanese Dance by American Garrett Kam to take place in Ubud on Friday July 14, 2006 according to the Bali Discovery.

Included among the long list of cultural treasures lost in the earthquake was the Dalem Pujakusuma, a noble residence that served as home to two of Central Java's leading schools of Javanese traditional dance - Mardawa Budaya and Pamulangan Beksa Ngayogyakarta. Founded respectively in 1962 and 1976 by the late K.R.T. Sasmintadipura (1929-1996), these schools represent a rich living repository of dance forms from Yogyakarta's Royal Court.

The Dalem Pujakusuma which served as both the school and the daily residence of the descendents of school's founder was flattened by the earthquake.

Raising the Roof for Friends in Yogya

A special evening of both Balinese and Javanese dance and music has been scheduled in Ubud on Friday July 14, 2006 at the Pondok Pekak located on the east side of Ubud's central soccer field staring from 7 p.m..

The women's gamelan group of Pondok Pekak will perform Balinese music and dance together with a rare and remarkable performance by American Garrett Kam. Kam, a native of Hawaii and a noted Javanese dancer, art historian and curator at the Neka Museum will perform a program of Royal Javanese dances rarely seen outside their palace of origin.

Garrett began learning Javanese court dance in 1975. From 1979 to 1982 he lived in Yogyakarta where he studied intensively from master teachers of the Sultan's palace including studies at the Mardawa Budaya and Pamulangan Beksa Ngayogyakarta schools. Garrett has taught and performed Javanese dance in Hawaii, California, Michigan, Oregon, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Cambodia. He has been living in Bali since 1987.

Those attending the evening are asked to make a minimum donation of Rp. 50,000 with proceeds going to help restore the now destroyed schools of traditional Javanese dance.