Kobagi Kecak?
What on earth could this mean?
Well, the Kecak is a Balinese dance performance developed early last century with the guidance of the famous pioneering Ubudian , German painter/musician Walter Spies.
Kobagi – is an acronym for Kommunitas Badan Gila (Crazy Body Community).
French artist Gregoire Gensse together with Balinese artists created a unique art form using the body and bamboo as percussive instruments. Kobagi Kecak takes from the West a complex style of body percussion; from the East, especially Bali the traditional musical forms of the kecak and genjek.
The Kobagi guys put on a very entertaining and literally cheeky show, also creating percussive sounds via their cheeks and their open mouths.
The Aerial Crew bounced onto to the One World ARMA stage backed with funky rhythms and break beats and proceeded to mix it up with lightning moves and attitude to boot! Polished and dynamic, the WOW factor was high!
Kamau Abayoni, a pivotal figure in the development of the San Francisco Bay Area Hiphop dance movement since the 1990’s, lead this fabulous Balinese break dancing group.
FARRROUT!
Well, what occurred next was a piece of pure theatrical performance when the Kobagi clan joined the Aerial Crew on the stage for a dramatic and humorous dance showdown!
This fantastic fun interaction between the traditional and the modern forms of musical dance expression highlighted the richness of creativity alive and well here in Bali, Indonesia.
To say the crowd was elated, well, perhaps that’s an understatement! Congratulations and thank you Kobagi and the Aerial Crew for your brilliant show!
Kobagi Kecak and the Aerial Crew in Action. Image by Erwin Sitorus.
Hi !
Thank’s very much for your words !
I’m Grégoire Gensse, the french guy who have created the KoBaGi’s Group ! Do you have any photos of the performance of yesterday night ?
Thank you very much !
Greg
Peace. Thanks for taking the time to write something. I would like to add a few things of note that, for a unknown reason, was not made available in the promotion.
Aerial Crew are the 2011 B-Boying (Breakdancing) champions of Indonesia, so the collaboration was a first ever, bringing together 2 top dance crews in Bali, both representing dance expressions of modern Bali.
My name is Kamau Abayomi and I conceived and directed this collaboration as well performed the final song of the set, which you forgot to mention, which was a hiphop/rap song that I produced with kecak samples in it and lyrics about the relaxed yet energetic and spiritual nature of Bali.
The performance was more than just a typical “east meets west” affair, it was a representation of a Bali rarely seen. One that shows how foreign influences are being accepted and incorporated more strongly in Balinese performance arts, without compromising Balinese expressions and traditions. Aerial Crew’s performance was not just a regular breaking performance, the entire first section was a fusion of breaking/hiphop movement styles with traditional Balinese movement and story. Kobagi’s movement is a perfect blending of Balinese movements,vocalizing and style with “body percussion” which is deep in African American/South African tradition.
The final song, “Bali Slap” performed by myself under the stage name PitchBlackGold fused all of these elements; rap, hiphop beats, kecak, chant, hiphop dance, feminine balinese dance and ultimately Balinese tradition and African American tradition.
I’ll write a post detailing the whole experience,and soon post it here: http://www.truecreativeactivity.com
Peace,
Kamau