Bali Music

Balinese women dressed in gold bodices dance to rhythmic drumming while waving fans as men in purple outfits sit cross legged around them, jiggling their arms and chanting. It appears to be just another show on the Indonesian resort island but there is a key difference, the dancers are all deaf and cannot hear the beat. Bengkala, in northern Bali, has existed for about eight centuries and high incidence of deafness was due to a recessive gene common among the local population. Nowadays, the village has about 40 out of its approximately 3000 residents with severe hearing loss. But unlike in other parts of Indonesia, local people have taken the deaf residents to their hearts. The dance project, a unique sign language called Kata Kolok has been developed in the isolated village which has been mastered by those with hearing impairment. In addition, deaf villagers are trained in skills such as making handicrafts that can be sold in the heaving tourist resorts of the island, and they work side by side with other villagers in the rice fields.