Pithe Meets: Putu Arista Dewi

Each of us has their own journey to find the core of themselves. For Arista, she’s finding herself through dance. Arista dances to find what does it mean to be a Balinese woman, where Balinese woman belongs to, and what does it mean to be a Balinese woman.

Tell us about your dancing journey

I started dancing when I was in fourth grade of elementary school when I was still in Negara. I remember my first teacher was Bu Ayu. Then, I guess being a Balinese woman who is very close with our traditional culture, I was intrigued to continue dancing so I took dance for my bachelor degree in Denpasar.

How do you find your transition from traditional dance to contemporary dance?

I feel like I growing up in Negara, I grew up with tradition. So when I studied dancing formally in university, I got to know contemporary dance. I was curious to explore the differences. I had a lot of questions in my head as someone who was used to practice traditional dance. Such as, “What is contemporary dance?”, :What’s the difference?”. Through exploring contemporary dance, I figured that contemporary dance has different perspective compared to traditional dance. I found that contemporary dance has a wider range to explore, while in traditional dance, we have pakem that sometimes becomes our border.

Could you tell us about Suun, the dance that you created and performed at B-Part in Masa Masa?

Suun is the activity of Balinese women where we carry anything on our head. I’ve done it since I was a kid, like helping my grandfather to carry firewood and carrying janur to help my mom. From these mundane activities,
I felt like there was a push for me to explore Balinese women - especially myself and my mother. Through Suun, I’m trying to see the position of Balinese women insociety, in the family, and in a spiritual sense - that’s tied by adat, tradition, and patriarchy. Also how we as Balinese women respond to these. Through Suun too, I see how my mother try to live through it all.

What keeps you going?

What are the potentials that Balinese dance can explore and elaborate in the nearest future?

In my opinion, I think we overlook simple, everyday things.
I think inspiration can come from all these everyday practices and rituals that we do. Balinese dance doesn't have to be born from a historical phenomenon. I think there’s a lot more to see and to dance to.

You’re also doing research for your mother’s journey. What triggers you to figure it out?

It was born out of my concerns of being a Balinese woman. Since living in Denpasar for study, I started looking for anything outside of me. The more I explore what’s outside of my realm, the more I want to go back to see what’s within me. I want to find not the furthest, but the closest piece of myself. Suun is one of the ways for me to find it. Suun comes from a mundane act, but through it, I can see my position in this world. I can also see my mother’s equal position in the family.

What’s the closest performance we can see?

My personal work that, hopefully, will be performed
before the end of this year.