''The Miracle of Bali'' is a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series of cultural

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

narrated by

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...

and first shown in 1969. The series comprises three programs about the culture of

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

. The complete series is available as a special feature on the DVD release of David Attenborough's 1975 series '' The Tribal Eye''.''The Miracle of Bali'' DVD

Episodes

Episode 1. ''The Midday Sun''

The first episode is a general introduction to Bali, its people and their varied arts, with the main focus on Peliatan village, its orchestra and dancers. It focuses first on the

gamelan Gamelan (; ; , ; ) is the traditional musical ensemble, ensemble music of the Javanese people, Javanese, Sundanese people, Sundanese, and Balinese people, Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussion instrument, per ...

orchestra, before turning to the influence that Walter Spies has had on the younger generation of painters. It concludes with the training of new pre-

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...

Legong dancers and their first performance.

Episode 2. ''Night''

This episode covers the animistic rituals and festivals of Bali, officially

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, but with origins in ancient ceremonials practised long before Hinduism came to the island. It opens with the spirit possession of children, said to be the origin of the Legong dance; it continues with possession by pigs, horses and even pots; and concludes with the all-important Barong ritual. This episode includes historical footage of the 1963 eruption of Mount Agung.

Episode 3. ''Recital of Music''

This episode is about music and dancing from the Balinese village of Peliatan, the separate items linked by an appropriately illustrative detail from Balinese paintings. It opens with a virtuoso instrumental from the

orchestra; next is a dance choreographed in 1951, The Bee Sips Honey; the 3rd section presents snippets from 4 different ensembles; and it closes with the unforgettable Monkey Dance.

References

Life in the Undergrowth 1960s British documentary television series 1969 British television series debuts 1969 British television series endings Balinese culture Documentary films about Indonesia Television shows set in Indonesia {{UK-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub