Obsessed westerners: 70 years after it was fashionable

I read in the Natural Guide to Bali about an Italian, Cristina Formaggia, who has formed the Gumguh Preservation Project, having studied for 10 years to become a master of one of the main roles of this Gumbuh dance, which was suffering from indigenous disinterest in the lavish resources needed to mount it. The Ford Foundation has financed this study.

In a back issue of Bali Echo I read about Vaughan Hatch, who studied gamelan for a year, and wrote this horrible sentence about the experience: "No drug is better than this, although the after effects are often cramp and a really sore back!"