ABSTRACT
This chapter describes Wayan Dibia involvement with cross-cultural dance has been life-long and multifaceted. He learned modern dance in his home region, Bali, from American dancers. He had also been trained in Javanese dance as well as Balinese. He went to West Germany in 1976 and to the United States in 1980, where he taught and conducted workshops in Balinese dance. In Bali it is common for someone who has grown up within a family of artists to continue in that occupation. He believes that in Western societies as children grow up many of them reject their parents' line of work, in order to be independent. In 1962 the he went to ASTI Indonesian Dance Academy in Denpasar, and there began to learn dance forms other than Balinese. In Jakarta people are interested in contemporary dance, a combination of jazz, modern dance, and ballet. Some people mix elements of these forms to create contemporary dances.
