Children Dancing in Bali: Practice, Performance, and Power

The question of power and agency between children and adults within the context of traditional Balinese dance remains multilayered. While adults exercise authority over children in formal settings, an alternative dynamic exists outside the confines of traditional performance contexts where children operate as artistic agents. In this illuminating ethnographic study of Balinese dance traditions, Jonathan McIntosh examines how children navigate the nexus of practice, performance, and power through the medium of Balinese culture. From structured dance classes to gatherings that embrace popular music, Children Dancing in Bali spotlights the creative potential of Balinese performance practices to negotiate identity and society.

Jonathan McIntosh is an Associate Professor in Music and Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, based at Edith Cowan University. Focusing on questions of identity, movement, and music in anthropology and ethnomusicology, he has conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Bali, Indonesia. His recent publications include chapters in The Routledge Companion to the Study of Local Musicking (Routledge, 2018), Global Perspectives on Orchestras: Essays on Collective Creativity and Social Agency (Oxford University Press, 2017), and The Routledge International Handbook of Intercultural Arts (Routledge, 2016).