Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Presents Gamelan Sekar Jaya

For more than 40 years Gamelan Sekar Jaya has set the standard for Balinese music and dance in North America. The only foreign group ever awarded the Dharma Kusuma, Bali's highest honor for artistic achievement, the Berkeley-based company is credited with helping spark a cultural renaissance in Indonesia that continues today. Commissioning leading Balinese composers and choreographers and collaborating with Bay Area artists across an extravagant array of disciplines, Sekar Jaya gracefully navigates a twofold path marked by both reverence for tradition and creative innovation. For this performance at YBG Festival, Sekar Jaya presents the bronze orchestra Gong Kebyar and shadow puppet theater Gender Wayang (featuring four musicians playing 10-keyed gendèr metallophones) performing works by resident guest music director I Ketut Cater and guest dance directors Ayu Sukmawati and Anak Agung Anom Putra. With 35 musicians and dancers this thrilling presentation features a playful monkey king.