After watching Balinese
dance performances, Ono Satomi, a girl from Japan instantly fell in love.
Movement and facial expressions of the dancers made her curious so that she was
determined to dance them. “My first overseas visit was to Bali. At that time, I
was a junior high school student. Well, when watching the dance performances in
Ubud, I was immediately interested,” she told Bali Travel News recently.
The Saitama-born girl on
August 23, 1986 admitted the beauty of the dance belonging to the Island of the
Gods always bothered her mind. “I finally learned Balinese dance at Otonomori
studio trained by Japanese instructor and helped by Balinese instructor from
the gamelan music department,” said Satoni who had ballet and jazz background
while smiling.
At that time, she
learned to dance the Legong Kraton Lasem, Puspanjali, Tenun, and Telek. Being
curious, a year later she decided to go learning Balinese dance in Bali. “I
wanted to practice the dance from the native origin. Aside from learning to
dance from Balinese, I can also get in touch with Balinese people owning the
arts,” she said seriously.
At the beginning, Satomi
learned to Balinese artists by commuting. When having spare time, she would fly
to Bali. By and large, she learned for a week and even one and a half months.
“After receiving a scholarship from the government of Indonesia in the
mid-2011, I could have long stay in Bali,” added the dancer who is also good at
playing gong kebyar.
The girl who loves to
eat lawar and roasted suckling pig
studied at the Indonesia Institute of Arts (ISI) Denpasar by choosing the dance
as her major. Aside from establishing the basic of Balinese dance, she also
explored how to go deep into the dance, so that her performance would be more
attractive. “I am also involved in devotional activities or ngayah with Balinese dancer friends,”
said the girl who likes to relieve fatigue on Sanur Beach.
Indeed, while studying
in the campus of Bali, Satomi received the same attention as other local
students. Other than ngayah, she was
also involved in every single show in the Bali Arts Festival (BAF). In the BAF
last year, she danced a bird in a ballet composed by ISI Denpasar. Now, she
would perform Balinese dance to support one of the dance troupes in Denpasar.
