Kompiang Metri-Davies

 

 

Kompiang Metri-Davies was introduced to Balinese dance at the age of five in her home village of Ngis in Eastern Bali, Indonesia.  She moved to the United States in 1992, has married and lives with her family in the East Bay.  She was the lead dancer and played music with the premier American Balinese music ensemble, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, for ten years before forming her own ensemble, Gadung Kasturi Balinese Dance and Music Inc.

 

Metri-Davies has been involved in a number of cross-cultural, cross-media collaborations including: Abhinaya Dance Company's production of The Ramayana (1997) and Chitresh Das' East as Center (2003), which both mixed Balinese and South Asian Indian dance; and ShadowLight Productions’ Sidha Karya (1996) and In Xanadu (1997) which incorporated live dance and shadow puppetry.  In 1998, she worked with Yasmen Sorab Metha on a piece entitled The Piper and in 1996, she choreographed an original dance piece with composer Dudley Brooks called Lithe Spirit.  Metri-Davies was a featured dancer in the presentation of the vintage silent film, Dance of the Virgins, which was accompanied by live music by the Club Foot Orchestra at the World Trade Center in New York City in1999.

 

In 1999 she was a finalist for the Isadora Duncan Dance Award, for both individual and ensemble performance. Metri-Davies was invited to dance with the University of British Columbia's Balinese Gamelan Ensemble, Gong Gita Asmara, in Vancouver in 2001, 2003, and 2004.  She dances for the Consulate General of Indonesia in San Francisco for various events, including an Indonesian Day festival each summer, and annual events in Eugene, Oregon.  In addition, she regularly performs at the Asian and De Young museums in San Francisco, and the Oakland Museum.  In 2005, she wrote and performed the piece Liku-Liku Hidupku: the Story of my Life, an autobiographical work that was featured in the Asian Pacific Islander United States of Asian America Festival.

 

Metri-Davies also has extensive experience teaching dance. She has taught workshops at Sonoma Academy since 2009, held one year weekly classes for Asian Youth Promoting Advocacy and Leadership in Oakland, and in the summer she teaches for Danceversity Camp at Ashkenaz in Berkeley since 2006.  Since November of 2006, she has been offering free classes for youth at the Indonesian Consulate, and she currently teaches adults and children weekly at the Mahea Uchiyama International Dance Center.  Finally, besides dancing and teaching, Metri-Davies designs and constructs dance costumes, as well.

Joyce Lu

Joyce Lu has been studying Balinese dance since 1997 with teachers such as, Ni Ketut Arini, Ida Ayu Diastini, I Nyoman Cerita, Emiko Susilo, I Gusti Agung Ayu Warsiki, and most recently, with Gadung Kasturi's Artistic Director, Kompiang Metri-Davies. She has also studied music with I Dewa Putu Berata and Hardja Susilo. Joyce danced with Gamelan Sekar Jaya from 2000-2005. She holds a BA in Theater and Studio art from Occidental College, a MFA in Asian Performance from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, and a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UC Berkeley.

Irene Wibawa

Irene Wibawa has studied Balinese dance since 2004 with I Gusti Agung Ayu Warsiki, Tjokorda Istri Putra Padmini and Ni Ketut Arini, Kompiang Metri-Davies, and Bulantrisna Djelantik. She currently dances with Gadung Kasturi.

Rotrease Regan Yates

Rotrease Regan Yates has been dancing with Gadung Kasturi since its inception. Ms. Regan Yates studied ballet and modern dance as an undergraduate student at The Pennsylvania State University. It was there that she began exploring cultural diversity through the art of dance with the Penn State International Dance Ensemble, and served terms as Costume Coordinator, Audition Instructor, and Assistant Dance Director. After graduation, she performed extensively in the Philadelphia area with the Monique Legaré International Dance Ensemble, and Janosik Polish Dance Ensemble.

After several years, Ms. Regan Yates relocated to the West Coast and began training and performing in the San Francisco Bay area with Leianuenue and Ka Ua Tuahine Polynesian Dance Ensembles, Nevá Russian Dance Ensemble, Lowiczanie Polish Dance Ensemble, Westwind International Folk Ensemble and Lestari Indonesia.

Rotrease began her study of Balinese dance with the renowned Balinese music and dance company, Gamelan Sekar Jaya in 1994 and performed with the group as a principal dancer until 2004. During her tenure with Sekar Jaya, Ms. Regan Yates served terms as Vice President, Costume Coordinator, and Dance Coordinator. Ms. Regan Yates has studied Balinese dance intensively during lengthy stays in Bali, Indonesia working with such dance masters as Ida Ayu Sukmawati, Ni Ketut Arini, Ida Ayu Diastini and I Nyoman Cerita.

Ms. Regan Yates has explored dances from other regions of Southeast Asia as well. Ms. Regan Yates has also studied Javanese classical dance at the Cultural Arts Center in Yogyakarta, as well as with Javanese dance teachers, Leny Tri Astuti, and Ninik Kunti-Utami Dierauf. In April 2003 in the Bay Area, Ms. Regan Yates performed a Cambodian dance duet with acclaimed Cambodian dancer Charya Burt, for the world premier of Ms. Burt's creation "The Magic Peacocks".

Noni Andarawati Gunarsa

Noni Gunarsa has been learning dancing since she was 5 years old. Her first teacher was a local teacher, I Ketut Sumantra, from Penasan in Klungkung - Bali, and later she also has other teachers. When she came to the US, she danced with Gamelan Sekar Jaya and had opportunities to learn more from most of the dance teachers whom GSJ invited from 1996 to present. Presently, she is joining Gadung Kasturi.