LIKE A CONTINUAL UNDER-SEA BALLET, the pulse of life in Bali
moves with a measured rhythm reminiscent of the sway of marine
plants and the flowing motion of octopus and jellyfish under
the sweep of a submarine current. There is a similar correlation
of the elegant and decorative people with the clear-cut, extravagant
vegetation; of their simple and sensitive temperament with the
fertile land.
No other race gives the impression of living in such close touch
with nature, creates such a complete feeling of harmony between
the people and the surroundings. The slender Balinese bodies
are as much a part of the landscape as the palms and the breadfruit
trees, and their smooth skins have the same tone as the earth
and as the brown rivers where they bathe; a general colour scheme
of greens, grays, and ocher's, relieved here and there by bright-coloured
sashes and tropical flowers. The Balinese belong in their environment
in the same way that a bumming-bird or an orchid belongs in
a Central American jungle, or a steel-worker belongs in the
grime of Pittsburgh. It was depressing to watch our Balinese
friends transplanted to the Paris Fair. They were cold and miserable
there in the middle of the summer, shivering in heavy overcoats
or wrapped in blankets like red Indians, but they were transformed
into normal, beautiful Balinese as soon as they returned from
their unhappy experience.
Today the beauty of the Balinese has been exploited to exhaustion
in travelogues and by tourist agencies, but as far back as 1619
records mention that Balinese women were in great demand in
the slave markets of Bourbon (Reunion), where " they brought
as much as 150 florins." The traffic in Balinese slaves
continued until 1830, and today there is a colony of Balinese
in Batavia, the descendants of former slaves. Their reputation
for beauty is well justified: the majority of the population
are handsome, with splendid physique and with a dignified elegance
of bearing, in both men and women of all ages. From childhood
the women walk for miles carrying-heavy loads on their heads;
this gives them a great co-ordination of movement, a poised
walk and bodily fitness. Old women retain their strength and
do not become bent hags. We were astonished at times to discover
that the slender, straight silhouette we bad admired from a
distance belonged to an old lady with gray hair, walking with
ease under forty or fifty pounds of fruit or pottery. Unless
physically disabled, elderly people never admit that they are
too old or too weak for activity; to " give up " would
be dangerous to physical and spiritual health and would render
a person vulnerable to attacks of a supernatural character.
Ordinarily free of excessive clothing, the Balinese have small
but well-developed bodies, with a peculiar anatomical structure
of simple, solid masses reminiscent of Egyptian and Mycenaean
sculptures: wide shoulders tapering down in unbroken lines to
flexible waists and narrow hips; strong backs, small heads,
and firm full breasts. Their slender arms and long legs end
in delicate hands and feet, kept skilful and alive by functional
use and dance training. Their faces have well-balanced - features,
expressive The Beach in Sanur eyes, small noses, and full mouths,
and their hair is thick and glossy. Because they are tanned
by the sun, their golden-brown skin appears generally darker
than it really is, and when seen at a distance, people bathing
are considerably whiter around their middles, where the skin
is usually covered by clothes, giving the impression that they
wear light-coloured pants. Watching a crowd of semi-nude Balinese
of all ages, one cannot help wondering what the comparison would
be should men and women of our cities suddenly appear in the
streets nude above the waist.
