Member profiles

Ni Madé Pujawati (Puja) - Artistic Director

Puja started dancing at the age of six in Tegallalang and is a graduate of both the National Conservatory of Music and the Indonesian Academy of Performing Arts. Apart from her performances of virtuoso dances, she is recognized for her singing and dancing in different roles in Balinese dance-opera, Arja. During Lila Cita & Lila Bhawa's 2006 Bali Tour, Balinese audience gave a huge applause for Jayaprana and Candra Kirana dance both of which Puja choreographed and performed herself. To Ni Madé Pujawati homepage


Arja 'Katemu ring Tampaksiring'

Melanie Knowles

Melanie Knowles has studied and performed an eclectic mix of dance genres from flamenco to tribal style belly dance. In 1993, she was fortunate enough to receive the Shansi Memorial Fellowship which took her to Yogyakarta, Central Java, where she studied Balinese dance intensively and the contemporary Javanese choreography of Didik Nini Thowok. She then went on to study and perform Balinese dance in Honolulu, Hawaii, and San Francisco, California with Gamelan Sekar Jaya. In Spring 2001, she began dancing with Ni Madé Pujawati and has performed with the Lila Bhawa dance troupe at the Michaelis Theatre, Roehampton; the Jerwood Hall at St Luke’s and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Melanie played the title role in Euripides’ Hippolytos which toured the East Coast of the United States during the Spring of 2004. She holds an MA in Dance Studies from the University of Surrey, Guildford. Her dissertation, which explores female dance roles and the manner in which women are represented in Balinese dance, was awarded a mark of distinction. Her performance of the virtuoso solo Kebyar Deduk was met with enthusiasm during Lila Cita & Lila Bhawa's 2006 Bali tour.

Gillian Roberts

Gill trained and worked for several years as an actor before studying dance theatre in Indonesia. She made her Balinese dance début with Lila Bhawa and also specializes in performing and teaching Javanese dance. Her work includes appearances with leading gamelan groups in the UK and Ireland, choreography for a BBC2 ‘Reputations’ documentary about Mata Hari, mask dance coaching for principals in the first-run cast of ‘The Lion King’ in the West End, and articles on dance for a number of publications including the Contemporary Theatre Review and Seleh Notes, the UK gamelan newsletter. She has studied Balinese dance and tembang with Ni Madé Pujawati since 2000.

Wayan Melayu (Din)

Din started learning Balinese dance in 2000 under the tutelage of Ni Madé Pujawati. He earned his wings in Olèg Tamulilingan (the Bumblebee Dance) at the SOAS Alumni Open Day in Summer 2000. He teaches Malay/Indonesian language and culture at the Language Centre SOAS.

Margaret Coldiron (Jiggs)

Jiggs trained at the Drama Centre, London and works as a performer, teacher and director. She holds a PhD in Drama from Royal Holloway and writes on Asian performance and masks. She's the auther of 'Trance and Transformation of the Actor in Japanese Noh and Balinese Dance Drama' (Edwin Mellen Press, 2004 - more details) She studied Balinese Topeng carving and dance in Bali and is a student of Ni Madé Pujawati in London. She plays gamelan with Lila Cita as well.

Juli Widjajanti

Juli has studied and performed Balinese dancing from the age of nine at The Sanggar Tari Komplek Hankam in Kelapa Dua, West Java, Indonesia where she lived until 1990. As of 2005 she started to retrain herself under the guidance of Ni Made Pujawati. Then at the beginning of 2006 she joined Lila Bhawa.

Hanna Sastrawan

Hanna is Balinese and started learning Balinese dance at the age of seven. Although she has graduated as a medical doctor, she has continued to perform Balinese dance. Since 2004 she has been studying dance with Ni Madé Pujawati.

Savitri Sastrawan (Vitri)

Vitri was born in Bali in 1990. She started leaning Balinese dance when she was seven and made her first performance the same year. From 1998 to 2001 she studied dance in Bali with the will-known dancer Wayan Arini Alit. Since 2004 she has been learning the dance with Ni Madé Pujawati.

Damaiyanti Sastrawan (Yanti)

Yanti was born in New York in 1991. She started learning Balinese dance at the age of eight with Wayan Arini Alit. Since 2004 she has been learning the dance with Ni Madé Pujawati.