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Film, Video Web Page Trance and dance in Bali

digital viewing copy

About this Item

Title

  • Trance and dance in Bali

Summary

  • A performance of the kris dance, a Balinese ceremonial dance which dramatizes the never-ending struggle between the witch and the dragon--the death-dealing and the life-protecting--as it is given in the village of Pagoetan in 1937-1939. Dancers go into violent trance seizures and turn their krisses (daggers) against their breasts without injury. Consciousness is restored with incense and holy water. Balinese music forms a background for Dr. Margaret Mead's narration.

Names

  • Bateson, Gregory, 1904-1980, film producer, photographer
  • Mead, Margaret, 1901-1978, film producer, screenwriter, narrator
  • Belo, Jane, 1904-1968, photographer
  • Bohmer, Josef, film editor
  • McPhee, Colin, 1900-1964, arranger
  • Committee for Research in Dementia Praecox, contributor
  • Foerstel (Lenora) Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • United States : New York University Film Library, 1951.

Headings

  • -  Barong (Dance drama)
  • -  Trance--Indonesia--Bali Island
  • -  Dance--Indonesia--Bali Island
  • -  Bali Island (Indonesia)--Religion

Genre

  • Ethnographic films
  • Short films
  • Nonfiction films

Notes

  • -  Photography by Gregory Bateson and Jane Belo ; edited by Josef Bohmer ; music arranged by Colin McPhee.
  • -  Narrator: Margaret Mead.
  • -  Supported through the 33rd Degree Scottish Rite, North Masonic Jursidiction, Cambridge University, The American Museum of Natural History, Department of Child Study [at] Vassar College.
  • -  Filmed between 1936 and 1939 in Bali, Indonesia.
  • -  Summary from OCLC record no. 35260893, 9/20/2001.
  • -  Footage for this film was shot during Mead's and Bateson's expeditions in Bali, where they documented as much Balinese culture as they were permitted to observe. Financing for the expedition came in part from the Committee for Research in Dementia Praecox. The film was not screened for the public until 1952. Mead wrote a narration that provided a cultural background for the footage, which had been edited down to three sequences.
  • -  This film was selected for the National Film Registry.
  • -  Sources used: MI Research Center subjects files (Margaret Mead Film Festival file); OCLC record no. 35260893, 9/20/2001; Eagan, D. America's film legacy, p. 304-305.

Medium

  • 1 video file (digital) (approximately 22 min.) : si., b&w.
  • non-viewing print 1 film reel of 1 (approximately 22 min., 785 ft.) sd., b&w; 16 mm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • FSA 8829 (non-viewing print)

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2001646000

Online Format

  • image
  • video
  • web page

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Mead, Margaret, Film Producer, Screenwriter, Narrator, Josef Bohmer, Colin McPhee, Contributor Committee For Research In Dementia Praecox, and Foerstel, Bateson, Gregory, Film Producer, and Jane Belo, photographer. Trance and dance in Bali. United States: New York University Film Library, 1951. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2001646000/.

APA citation style:

Mead, M., Bohmer, J., McPhee, C., Committee For Research In Dementia Praecox, C. & Foerstel, Bateson, G. & Belo, J., photographer. (1951) Trance and dance in Bali. United States: New York University Film Library. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2001646000/.

MLA citation style:

Mead, Margaret, Film Producer, Screenwriter, Narrator, et al., photographers by Bateson, Gregory, Film Producer, and Jane Belo. Trance and dance in Bali. United States: New York University Film Library, 1951. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2001646000/>.