Last term at Pelangi School in Ubud, Olive joined the Balinese dance classes, which culminated in a performance at the school graduation ceremony yesterday.
The girls had to arrive quite early before school to get dressed up which included bright make-up, hair extensions with flowers and the outfit. The costumes are so colourful and are a traditional Balinese dress. What a transformation!
The coloured make-up on her face is a special Balinese style, different from other parts of Indonesia. All the girls were dressed up exactly the same.
When our boys came to see her before the show, they did not even recognise Olive! Casper wouldn’t go near her for a few minutes until Olive talked to him to reassure him it really was her. Part of the hairdo included a large hair extension attached to a bun at the back of her hair. Of course, it was black given the local hair colour, so she was one of the few in the class with two-toned hair! It also included the flower piece at the top which according to Olive was quite heavy. When you have to wobble your head for the dance it can be difficult trying to keep it in one place.
Olive had missed the last few weeks of practice, so was relegated to the back row. She did very well though remembering all the moves of a particularly difficult dance style. It took her a number of weeks to lose the flowing ‘ballet’ style which she is accustomed to from previous dance lessons. The dance is accompanied by the sound of the gamelan, a common sound heard in Bali.
This is the first time she has ever worn make up before, and for the first time, this was fairly full-on!! It was an amazing transformation into a gorgeous woman looking many years beyond her age. There is something slightly worrying about looking at your seven-year-old when she looks like a 17-year-old. Life already moves too quickly with kids growing up, let alone getting a glimpse into the future like this!
The dot between the eyebrows, according to Hindu belief represents the ‘third eye’.
Olive was very excited to be able to get so dressed up for this event, she loved it. And we were so proud of her efforts.