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ISLENE PINDER, Founding Director, or "Ibu-lene" (mother islene) as she is known in Bali is a choreographer and retired PSC-CUNY professor of dance at Lehman College. For the past 35 years she has visited and studied in Ubud, Bali with her Balinese godson, A.A. Gde Anom Putra (Anom), an acclaimed Balinese dancer and artistic director of the Sangga Semara Ratih. Her passion for Balinese dance began when in 1972 as a young woman she experienced a performance of Balinese dancers and musicians at City Center, N.Y. In 1973, City Center program in hand, she traveled to Bali for the first time ( a time of pre-electricity and running water). Pinder returned to Bali in 1975 on sabbatical where she lived with her dance teacher and his family. During that time she became close to Anom, the son of the family. Sadly Anom's mother died from a long illness and as promised Pinder became Anom's god mother and matriarch to the family, a role she lovingly fulfills to this day. This bond is the cornerstone to Pinder's insight and deep understanding of Balinese culture. Rich with new ideas and experiences Pinder founded BALAM Dance Theatre in 1979, a company dedicated to the propagation and exploration of Balinese dance and culture in New York. As the founding choreographer for BALAM she created a large body of experimental fusion work includin g Night Shadow-A Balinese Dream, Vision of Sound, Bird Jauk, Memeory, Fragrance & Pity , and other s. Currentl y, she is responsible for both aesthetic and business decisions regarding the company and on special occasion is also a performing company member. She is a guest lecturer and consultant on Balinese dance and culture, and a primary member of the Kestenberg Movement Profile research team, Janet Amighi /Islene Pinder. She has been the recipient of numerous research awards from the PSC/CUNY Research Foundation on cross-cultural movement studies and has published articles, presented papers at conferences. She has been interviewed on Balinese dance and culture in the Antioch New England Graduate School Press, Dance Magazine, CUNY Journal, the television show Eye On Dance, public radio, the Museum of Natural History, and the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Through her work with the BALAM, she has been recognized by the Indonesian Consulate of New York and Sekolah Tingi.Seni Indonesia or S.T.S.I. (The State College of Indonesian Arts) in Denpasar, Bali.
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CARLOS FITTANTE, Artistic Director, is a first generation American of Spanish and Italian descent. He is a graduate of the School of American Ballet, and has a BA in Dance from Empire State College (CUNY). Fittante began his performing career as a free-lance dancer in New York and was first introduced to BALAM in 1987. He was brought into the company for his skill as a ballet trained dancer and male partner for a developing new work by Pinder, called Eden . Stimulated by the beauty of Balinese dance, Fittante placed himself under Pinder's tutelage to learn more about the style. Together they settled on an exchange in which Pinder provided her expertise and guidance on Balinese dance, while Fittante functioned as her assistant in running BALAM's office. After innumerable hours of self schooling, investigation and coaching Fittante aspired to perform a traditional Balinese dance solo, which required further research on Balinese culture. In 1990 he went to Bali to deepen his studies, where he lived with Pinder's Balinese family of dancers. This was a pivotal event, and upon his return to the New York he became Pinder's artistic collaborator and co-director. Since then he has returned to Bali many times and has performed with the Sangga Semara Ratih in Ubud, Bali. Fittante also specializes in Baroque dance and has established himself as a leading figure and soloist for period opera and festivals throughout the world. Some of his Baroque performing credits include venues such as the Barbican Center, London, England; the Handel Festival, Göttingen, Germany; Suntory Hall, Tokyo, Japan; ABAO Opera, Bilbao, Spain; Jarvis Conservatory, Napa, California; Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., as well as guest appearances with Academy of Ancient Music, Boston Early Music Festival, Handel & Haydn Society, and others. Some New York performing credits include Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, New American Ballet Ensemble, New York Theatre Ballet, Neo Labos Dance Theatre and the New York Baroque Dance Company where he was a company member for fourteen years. As a free-lance choreographer his non Balinese inspired work has been presented by the New York Baroque Dance Company, Staten Island Ballet, Wanamaker Arts Productions, New Choreographers on Pointe, and Washington University, Queer Culture Festival (NYC) and others. Currently, he is on the faculty of the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute and Peridance Center in New York where he teaches Balinese Dance and Mask & Gesture .
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ROBIN GILBERT CAMPOS began her dance training in Cleveland, Ohio and later graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts. Her career includes the ballet companies Connecticut Ballet Theatre, Dallas Ballet, Dance Theatre of Westchester, and Anglo-American Ballet where she was featured in the roles of Aurora in Sleeping Beauty , and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker . She has also danced in Musical Theatre, Industrial shows, Opera, commercials, videos, and has worked with Peter Pucci Plus Dancers, and choreographers Ann Reinking, Lila York, Arthur Faria. In 1991 she became a company member of BALAM where she pioneered the role, Raka Froggy in Animal Wedding in which she danced in a wooden Balinese mask en pointe! Since then she has helped define BALAM's fusion technique and has been featured as Sita in Ramayana- Abduction of Sita , Uma in Night Shadow - A Balinese Dream , Tigerlily & the Dragonfly , Episode and Eden. In her non-dance life Robin is married to her wonderful husband Manny, and is a drummer/vocalist in his Rock band, The Generators. |
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TOSHINORI HAMADA lived as a monk in a Buddhist monastery in Japan for much of his youth. He later went on to study at the Noh Theatre of Tokyo, Japan, and subsequently became an actor-dancer with the National Kabuki Company. He also holds a black belt in Karate. In 1986 he came to New York to intensify his dance training where he studied at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. He choreographs and performs his unique blend of East/West movement styles at special events, ceremonies, and festivals throughout the world and his traditional Japanese background and life experiences in New York empower him with a unique quality and voice as a contemporary performing artist. He has written, directed, and produced three short art films, Breezy Point (16 mm), My Master and Dream on Flatbed , which was accepted at the 2002 Short Film Festival in Hamburg, Germany. Toshi has been a BALAM company member since 1987 and has been featured in the roles of Rahwana from Ramayana-The Abduction of Sita , Durga from Night Shadow-A Balinese Dream , and Fragrance & Demon from Spirit Window , and in his choreography, NYC-Baris . In August 2005 Toshi choreographed and performed a solo version of Bali-Bolero to live musical accompaniment by the Sangga Semara Ratih for a village festival with thousands attending. |
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KRISTINA BERGER from Washington D.C. discovered her love of Lester Horton Technique during her two years as a scholarship student at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Since then she has gone on to establish herself as successful international teacher and performer of many styles including Horton. She has worked as Milton Myers assistant/demonstrator, and now performs as a soloist of the Lester Horton Theatre, Inc. under the direction of Don Martin. Other performing credits include Joyce Trisler Danscompany, Washington Opera Ballet, Isadora Duncan Dance Visions Company, The Shadow Box Theatre, The Kennedy Center's production of The Nightingale , and Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. She became interested in BALAM in the summer of 1999 when taking her first Balinese dance lessons at Peridance Center in a workshop given by Fittante. In the spring of 2000 she joined BALAM and was debuted in the whimsical masked solo, Hanuman the Monkey King, which was created on her. Since then she is also featured in BALAM's signature work, Ramayana-The Abduction of Sita , where she portrays the alluring but sinister Golden Deer . Currently she is member of Erick Hawkins Dance Company, a founding member of S.W.A.T.T. (Paris, France), and teaches and choreographs at Marymount Manhattan College.
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NANI DEVI , Resident Guest Artist, was born and raised in Bali, Indonesia and began dancing at the early age of ten. Ms. Devi specializes in and performs classical Balinese dance, as well as those from the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Sulawesi. Educated at the University of Indonesia, she has distinguished herself as a knowledgeable instructor in various dance traditions, having collaborated with many notable dance masters and performers throughout Indonesia. Noted for dancing with a natural grace and sweet expression, she was selected by the Indonesian government to perform in the palaces of Bali for visiting heads of state. She has performed throughout the world, including Russia, Japan, China, Thailand, the Philippines, the United States, and in several Middle Eastern countries.
Ms. Devi appeared previously as a guest artist with BALAM in 1981 in Night Shadow-A Balinese Dream and continued performing as a guest dancer until 1988. In BALAM's 2007 season, she returned in Building Bridges with Friends at the Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College. In 1972, she settled in New York City performing and promoting Indonesian dance forms for the Ministry of Culture. Ms. Devi serves as Artistic Director of the Nani Devi Indonesian Dance Company and is an instructor at Lotus Music and Dance Studio.
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