THEATRE IN THE WORLDNew

Kecak

with I Wayan Dibia and Rucina Ballinger

Voice, Rhythm and Ritual

18 lessons · 3 hrs 56 min · 7 modules

What you’ll take away

By the end of this course

  • Understand Kecak in its cultural and historical context

    Trace Kecak’s development from the vocal traditions associated with Sanghyang to the staged ensemble theatre form practised in Bali today, while clearly distinguishing theatrical performance from ritual practice.

  • Analyse Kecak’s performance conventions

    Recognise how interlocking vocal rhythms, breath, silence, gesture, formation and spatial focus work together to create a unified ensemble performance.

  • Explore voice as a theatrical instrument

    Understand how Kecak uses gamelan suara, or voice orchestra, to create pulse, texture, atmosphere and dramatic energy without conventional musical instruments.

  • Examine how ensemble creates story

    Explore how Ramayana episodes are shaped through rhythm, repetition, physical action and collective focus rather than through a fixed script or dialogue-led storytelling.

  • Investigate leadership and collective response

    Understand how leadership, improvisation and deep listening allow a large ensemble to remain responsive, precise and alive in performance.

  • Apply Kecak principles to your own practice

    Experiment with transferable principles of rhythm, breath, listening, atmosphere and ensemble responsibility while approaching Kecak with cultural care and respect.

About this course

What this course covers

Kecak is one of Bali’s most recognisable ensemble theatre forms: a powerful meeting of voice, rhythm, movement and collective focus. Known for its interlocking waves of ‘cak’ chanting, Kecak transforms the human voice into gamelan suara — a voice orchestra capable of creating rhythm, atmosphere and dramatic action without instruments. This course places Kecak within its Balinese cultural and historical context, tracing its inspiration in Sanghyang chanting and its development as a staged theatrical form from the 1930s onwards.

I Wayan Dibia and Rucina Ballinger unpack the craft of Kecak through interlocking vocal patterns, breath, silence, gesture, formation, spatial focus, leadership and improvisation. Filmed workshops with students from Bali Island School bring these principles into practice, while exploration of the Ramayana reveals how character, chorus, fire, light, space and audience proximity combine to create Kecak’s distinctive theatrical world.

The course also considers Kecak as a living form, evolving through changing participation, site-specific work, education and international collaboration. Throughout, the emphasis is not on reproducing Kecak, but on understanding its cultural context and learning thoughtfully from its principles of rhythm, listening, ensemble responsibility and collective creation.

Before you enrol

Everything you need to know before you begin

Designed for

  • Theatre students exploring world theatre traditions
  • Theatre teachers bringing Kecak into the classroom
  • Performers and theatre-makers developing physical performance skills
  • Educators exploring theatre traditions in cultural context
  • Anyone curious about Balinese performance

How you’ll learn

  • Expert guidance from leading specialists in Balinese performance and culture
  • Practical demonstrations of Kecak’s vocal and physical techniques
  • Student workshops bringing performance conventions to life
  • Guided exploration of rhythm, breath, gesture, formation and collective voice
  • Guided exploration of rhythm, breath, gesture, formation and collective voice

Course roadmap

How this course is structured

7 modules · 18 lessons · 3 hrs 56 min · 1 free preview

PROLOGUEWelcome & Introduction1 lesson · 6 min
  • Welcome to Kecak: Course Overview6 min
MODULE ONEKecak in Context: Ritual, Evolution, and Community3 lessons · 23 min
  • Lesson 1: Origins of Kecak: From Sanghyang to Secular Theatre6 min
  • Lesson 2: Religion, Harmony, and the Collective Voice10 min
  • Lesson 3: Society, Performance, and Collaboration7 min
MODULE TWOPerformance Conventions: Voice, Rhythm, and Formation4 lessons · 52 min
  • Lesson 1: The Ensemble as Instrument17 min
  • Lesson 2: Rhythm, Breath, and Silence6 min
  • Lesson 3: Gesture, Formation, and Spatial Focus19 min
  • Bonus Material: Kecak Basics — Your First StepsFree preview10 min
MODULE THREETraditional Performance Material: The Ramayana and Ensemble Storytelling4 lessons · 1 hr 15 min
  • Lesson 1: The Ramayana in Kecak: Story as Structure, Rhythm, and Environment37 min
  • Lesson 2: Performing the Ramayana Roles11 min
  • Lesson 3: Improvisation, Leadership, and Ensemble Response16 min
  • Bonus Material: Advanced Layering — Building to Five Voices11 min
MODULE FOURSound, Space and Atmosphere3 lessons · 1 hr 2 min
  • Lesson 1: Fire, Light, and the Theatrical Setting9 min
  • Lesson 2: The Sound of Community15 min
  • Bonus Material: Kecak — A Complete Live Performance38 min
MODULE FIVEContinuity and Legacy: Kecak in the Modern World2 lessons · 13 min
  • Lesson 1: Kecak Today: Performance, Innovation, and Community Participation8 min
  • Lesson 2: Enduring Meanings & Global Resonance5 min
EPILOGUECourse Closure1 lesson · 5 min
  • Final Reflections5 min

Learn from the experts

About your presenters

  • Dr I Wayan Dibia

    Balinese performing artist, scholar and master teacher

    I Wayan Dibia is one of Bali’s foremost performers, choreographers, scholars and teachers of traditional Balinese performing arts. His career spans performance, choreography, research and education, with particular expertise in Balinese dance-drama and mask traditions. A former professor and director of the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Denpasar, he has taught, performed and presented Balinese arts internationally, while remaining deeply connected to the living traditions and communities from which his practice emerges.

  • Rucina Ballinger

    Balinese arts and culture specialist, writer and educator

    Rucina Ballinger is a writer, educator and cultural specialist whose work has focused extensively on the arts, traditions and cultural life of Bali. A long-term resident of the island, she has written and taught widely about Balinese performance, ceremony and society, helping international audiences engage with Bali beyond its surface representations. Her work brings together cultural research, lived experience and a longstanding engagement with Balinese artists and communities.

Before you buy

Frequently asked questions

Is this course suitable for IB Theatre teachers and students?

Yes. The course offers cultural context, performance conventions, practical workshops and approaches to embodied exploration that are relevant to the study of world theatre traditions. It is not designed exclusively for IB Theatre, however, and is equally relevant to non-IB educators, students and theatre practitioners.

Is the course theoretical or practical?

Both. Historical, cultural and theatrical context is combined with practical exploration of voice, rhythm, breath, silence, gesture, formation, spatial focus, leadership and ensemble response.

Can I learn from the course if I am working independently?

Yes. Although Kecak is fundamentally an ensemble form, the course identifies ways solo learners can explore principles such as breath, rhythmic precision, repetition, focus and attentive listening.

ISTA Encore

Everything you need to know

Why do I need a free ISTA account?

Encore lives inside STAGE, ISTA’s online platform. A free account lets you open any course, watch its free preview lessons where they’re offered, and keeps everything you buy together on your ISTA profile. It takes a minute and there’s no charge to join.

How long do I have access to a course if I buy it individually?

For as long as the course stays on Encore, so you can come back to it whenever you like. ISTA may retire a course that becomes outdated or no longer meets our standards; where we can, we’ll give advance notice and time to finish it first.

What are the All-Access Passes?

Each All-Access Pass unlocks the whole Encore library for 12 months, including every new release during that year. There are three: the Educator Pass for one educator (£300 a year), the Class Pass for one educator and 30 students (£375 a year, with Ensemble or Company membership), and the Extended Class Pass for whole departments (from £400 a year, with Company membership). Changes to the library don’t affect the price of your pass.

Do I need to be an ISTA member to use Encore?

No. Anyone can buy single courses, or the Educator Pass for £300 a year, with a free ISTA account. Membership is only needed for the Class Pass and the Extended Class Pass, which bring Encore to your students.

I’m an ISTA member. What do I get?

Ensemble and Company members pay £250 a year for the Educator Pass, saving £50, and can add a Class Pass for their students. Company members can also build an Extended Class Pass for their department. Your pass sits on your membership, so you renew both together on one invoice. Solo members can add the Educator Pass at £300 to the same renewal.

When does my pass start and renew?

Passes can be bought at any time of year, and access begins straight away, whether you pay by card or by invoice. Invoices are due within 30 days. Members pay their member price, prorated by day to their next membership renewal; after that, pass and membership renew together each year on one invoice. If you join ISTA and buy a pass at the same time, both start and renew on the same date. Non-members pay £300 a year for the Educator Pass, renewing each year from the purchase date. Buying a pass never changes a membership renewal date.

I have an Educator Pass. What happens if I join ISTA later?

Any unused value from your pass is credited towards your new subscription, and your pass moves to your membership renewal date. From then on your membership tier sets your Encore price: £250 a year with Ensemble or Company.

Can I add or remove seats during the year?

Extra educator and student seats can be added at any time, prorated to your existing renewal date. Reductions take effect at your next renewal, with no mid-term refunds.

What happens to my pass if I change or leave my membership?

Upgrading starts straight away: the time left on your current plan comes off the price, and an Educator Pass moves to your new member price, with its unused time credited too. If you move to a tier that doesn’t include your pass, it stays active until the end of the paid term and isn’t renewed. If you leave, an Educator Pass can continue at the standard rate of £300 a year from your next renewal date; Class Passes and Extended Class Passes need eligible membership, so they stay active to the end of the paid membership term and aren’t renewed.

How does the Extended Class Pass work?

It’s a Class Pass with more seats, for Company members. Add educators at £75 a year each and students in blocks of 10 at £25 a year, and pay only for what your school needs. For example, 3 educators and 60 students cost £600 a year.

Who can use the student seats on a Class Pass?

Students with an email address on the same domain as their teacher’s, each signing in with their own free ISTA account. You can reassign or reset a seat at any time, so seats move on when a class changes.

Are Encore courses only for International Baccalaureate programmes?

No. They support IB programmes well, and they’re just as useful for AP, BTEC, A level and a wide range of other theatre and arts courses.

Will I receive a certificate?

Yes. Every course includes a personalised ISTA Encore Certificate of Completion for your professional development records.

Are the courses for teachers or students?

Both. Teachers can take a course themselves and then use its lesson plans, presentations and resources with their classes, or students can explore a practitioner or tradition independently.

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