BACKGROUND ON CULTURE The island of Bali is a city among the islands of Indonesia, located east of Java and west of Lombak in the Indian Ocean. As stated in “The Anthropological Romance of Bali 1597-1972,” Bali is “in the very center of the Indonesian archipelago” (Boon 1). This island is part of the largest nation in size and population in Southeast Asia. Bali has a rather complex belief system, especially when perceived by the Western world. Their belief system does not comprise a single central religion, but a sort of amalgam of various world religions. The religion of Bali is called the Hindu-Balinese religion, or Agama Hindu Bali (Ramseyer 93), but the true religion of this culture is much more multifaceted than this title justifies. The people of Bali essentially created their own individualized religion by combining Mahayana Buddhism, orthodox Siwaism, the “demonic practices of the Trantric sects” and the Javanized Hinduism of Majapahit, united by a dualistic worldview and the worship of nature and ancestors (Ramseyer 93). Balinese religion can be described most simply as “a blend of animism, Hindu beliefs, Buddhism, and ancestor worship” (Cross 37). A key concept in the Balinese belief system is the principle of balance. This applies to society, the environment, the family and individuals. The most important type of balance in Balinese religion is the balance that must be maintained between opposing forces, known as Rwa Bhineda (Cross 38). Good versus Evil, Male versus Female, and Light versus Dark are just a few examples of the opposites emphasized in their belief system, but the most vital of the opposites is Cooperation versus Chaos. With this pair of opposites, it is absolutely crucial within Balin...... middle of paper ......to allow the dancers to make contact with gods or demons, or to allow the dancer to be filled by the spirit of an ancestor or deity (Cross 37). So, although we cannot identify every specific dance in Balinese culture, we are able to conclude that dance as an art is fundamental and definitive to the culture as a whole. Works Cited Belo, Jane Traditional Balinese Culture: Essays Columbia University Press, NY., 1970Boon, James A The Anthropological Novel of Bali Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1977Cross, Kara Dancing From The Heart Kendall/Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, IA, 2011Friederich, Rudolph Th. A The Civilization and Culture of Bali Calcutta: Susil Gupta, India, 1959Ramseyer, Urs The Art and Culture of Bali Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 1977Reichele, Natasha Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, CA., 2010