ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on what lies in-between Balinese dancer and drummer, what mutual aesthetic and performative 'glue' binds the two together or, conversely, what pushes them apart. It describes a symbiotic relationship between the vocabulary of movement of a Balinese dancer and the vocabulary of gupekan drumming as a circumstance of 'persistent mutualisms'. Ngunda bayu is an aesthetic concept found in Balinese philosophical texts and is especially pertinent in its many and diverse applications within the performing arts. Dancers and drummers frequently make comparisons to extra-musical relationships drawn from everyday life. Wayan Bagus Sutirtha earned his master's degree in choreography from the Institut Seni Indonesia Surakarta (ISI Solo) and currently works as a full-time government faculty member at its sister institution, ISI Denpasar. In the ecology of Balinese performing arts, drummers and dancers are inextricably linked through the ngunda bayu energy-distribution system.
