It was past midnight  one steaming tropical night and I was in deep trouble.
  I remember thinking – How on earth did I get in this situation?
  I was surrounded by hundreds of villagers, strangely dressed in weird costumes deep in the mountains of rural Bali.
      I couldn’t move to the left or the right and I’d been  crushed by the crowd for hours, my back and legs ached, I just wanted to sit down or at least stretch   ….we were all anxiously waiting.   Waiting for what?
      Ah… Yes  I remember.  I was deep inside an ancient  gold & crimson Hindu temple to witness and document a mesmerizing primitive ceremony held once every 100 years.     My good friend, Nyoman Wenten, himself a hindu priest,  had been asked to perform a sacred mystical mask dance.   He asked that I film it.
      Finally!  After hours of waiting     two dancers stepped into the courtyard and slowly commenced  their lengthy dance.  The spirit of the masks seemed to descend into their bodies as they swayed and moved in precision to the exotic strains of gamelan music.  Men, women & children from surrounding villages watched with intense fascination and seemed to drift into another realm of consciousness.  Pungent incense, fragrant flowers and hanging vines added to the dream-like atmosphere as the dancers continued their fantastic movements.  Time seemed to stop as we watched  stories that were being told through ancient dance.  Finally their spellbinding performance came to an end.  
      Hours before I’d seen a strange figure dressed in white flowing robes and wearing a hideous mask with huge fangs with long matted hair flowing down – He was being led up a ladder to a small perch overlooking the courtyard we were standing in.  
    Who is this?    I found out later in a shocking manner who this figure really was!
      After a short break – heavy drums started to pound, and loud metallic bars were hit with large hammer-like mallets.  An electric shock seemed to stun the villagers as the horrible creature I’d seen earlier, came to life and slowly descended the ladder.
    She’d awakened and was filled with evil and fury as she stood in the courtyard and surveyed the frightened people……this was “Rangda”  the evil witch whose pointed fangs , long  protruding tongue and vicious claws represents the evil that men face in this world.    She stood there a while gyrating and shaking from the deep trance…….and suddenly she sprang into the crowd as children and adults screamed in terror.  
    She held a white cloth with the claws of the left hand.  In the melee a man slipped and  was touched by the cloth…..he fell to the ground with a thud and shook violently   he was deep in  trance.  Village priests gathered around & hoisted him up and above their heads and transported him to another part of the temple to extract the spirit that had struck him down.  
    I stood amazed at the scene unfolding in front of my eyes and thought, is anyone going to believe what I’ve just seen?  Ah yes,  the video camera, I filmed most of what I’d experienced.

Rangda

Rangda in full costume

Here is music I recorded inside a hindu temple during the Galunang festival.  This song is from my “Mystic Bali” Cd:  Monkey Temple Music

Mystic Bali Cd

I just returned from an amazing trip to Venezuela,  it won’t be the last.  I went with my good friend (and excellent video editor) Antonio Scarpitta.  The first stop was to the amazing Caribbean island of Margarita.  We stayed with Antonio’s family and immediately set out to film, record and document island life, music and culture.  Margarita is a sizzling tropical island full of life.  I felt instantly at home with the friendly locals.  I think Venezuelans are some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met.  I was treated to amazing food, hospitality and music.  Here are just a few shots I took on the trip.  I also was introduced to the spectacular folk music “Jaropo” or also called “Musica Llanera”.  Check this video out:  The Venezuela Youth Symphony plays with Llanera music (be sure and watch the whole video!)Venezuela Youth Symphony with Llanera players

I spent two weeks on Isla Margarita filming artists, musicians, fishermen and cooks.  I then flew to the town of Vijia (a jungle town) and then took a Mr. Toad’s wild bus ride up into the Andes mountains to Merida.  The cool andean weather was a nice relief to the steaming humidity of the island.  (more on that part of the trip later).  I just barely scratched the surface of Venezuela during one month.

Part of Isla de Margarita from the air.

Chuck Jonkey claps with cuatro player

A local lizard pet

Isla de Margarita sunset Juangriego beach

Masks are an essential part of some cultures I’ve visited on my travels.  I have a small collection of  amazing masks that are not only beautifully crafted but represent a deep cultural and spiritual tradition.  This is just one example of superb workmanship and brilliant painting.Indonesia is one of many countries whose cultures actively participate in mask creation.  In some cases masks are held sacred and believed to contain resident spirits.

A couple of years ago I was invited to a tiny village where an extremely valuable collection of sacred masks was being brought out and blessed.  There were many Hindu priests and devotees who carefully cleaned and handled the masks.  I saw an older gentleman openly weep when he picked up one of the masks… as if it were a symbol of deity itself.

There were also famous dancers from the region who were invited to perform dances that these masks were made for.  Of course all of the participants prayed and were blessed by the priest before each performance.I was amazed by the devotion displayed by all of the people.  Villagers of all ages attended the ceremony.

A wonderful group of musicians performed the traditional music for each dance with great vitality.  I was able to film all of this and was grateful to witness this amazing scene.  Some dances are truly “trance dances” where the performer takes on the spirit from the mask to tell stories and convey messages to those watching.  In one case a few weeks ago I was in an isolated village in Bali and witnessed such a trance dance.  The evil witch “Rangda” appeared and was obviously deep in trance.  He carried a handkerchief  in his left hand… he charged into a crowd of people at the temple and anyone who was touched by the handkerchief instantly fell down into a trance and had to be carried out  to the priest to calm them down and bring them “back to earth”…it was pretty wild.