This is the largest of the islands of NTT. To date the author's work has been confined to the eastern part of the island. Here, again, the use of gongs is common and the ensemble is usually called gong waning (the name given to the tambour-type drums used in the area). Styles for the group include lett, ropo, and leke (these names refer to the tempo of the music and, therefore, the types of dance which can be performed). Two of the dancing styles observed were hekong and rohatenda. In this area the author attended a festival (pesta) held at the time of the death of a villager and many people came to pay their last respects. The gongs performed throughout the three-day period though there were breaks for rest. The arrangements for a pesta in NTT are usually fairly standard with seats facing towards a dais area, with some sort of covering over the top. An outside area is usually chosen to accomodate the 100 - 200 invited guests. A pesta can be held for almost any reason. The most ususal are weddings and funerals, but the opening of a new office branch, the dedication of a new building, or the launch of a new product may also be celebrated by a pesta. As is usual in Indonesia, there will be speeches and so public address system will be installed. This can double as an entertainment facility with the addition of a cassette deck, and so it is not unusual to hear very loud cassette music being played at the pesta. At this particular pesta the gong waning played most of the time and there was a large space cleared in the middle for the guests to dance. The dancing consisted of the dances mentioned above, one being an individual type of dance and the other being a circle dance accompanied by gong. What interested me about this pesta was the continuation of the dancing during the breaks in playing by the gong waning. During these breaks the cassette played tapes of typical Indonesian pop music in discotheque style, but the dancers, who were warmed up to their traditional dances, made simple adjustments to the movements to adapt to the rhythms of the modern music, and continued their dancing without hesitation. It was interesting that they did not feel the need to use a cassette of the gong waning but simply adapted to whatever music was played. The dancers were from the middle-aged group; perhaps the music was a concession to the younger people at the party. It is the first time the author has seen such a adaptation of traditional dancing. One wonders how much this example of 'outside influence' is a pointer to future trends?

In the Sikka area of eastern Flores, there is also something quite as remarkable in that there is a pocket of Portuguese cultural influence which thrives to this day. The dance named taja bobu performed by Portuguese settlers in the area 400 years ago is still performed today. Many of the people of Sikka are descendants from the Portuguese and still use that language. In the area there is also a large monastery and a hospital es ablished by the Portuguese.

Solor is a smaller and drier island to the east of Flores which borders on the Ombai Straght. Many people there are dependent upon the sea for a livelihood. Styles of dancing include lilin (a circle dance); beku which has small circles of about twelve people and an accompaniment of gongs; and oha, a circle dance with a singer. In oha, gongs or foot rattles are not used. Hanja is the same dance with the addition of a small tambour-type drum (bawa)which is used to create the rhythms. Dana dani is performed with the gambus and tambour accompaniment. Beku and hanja are both styles accompanied by gongs and bawa. On Solor, the author encountered an interesting example of modernisation in a local school performance for a cultural competition within the province. The children had taken the performance to Kupang the finals were televised. It was a dana dani style of presentation with the gambus player who was also the singer, being a woman. This was the only occasion the author had seen a woman play this role. She was accompanied by a number of rebana played by men. The music and dance were heavily influenced by Muslim musical styles while the story, which stressed the virtue of industry, could be said to have a "national" flavour. This 'kreasi' (creation) was typical of the types of modern influence brought to bear on the people not only by religious influences but also through access to national television and radio programmes which often stress the importance of such qualities as industriousness.

Famous for its ikat weaves and its whale harpooners, Lamahera is dominated by a great volcano, and is more isolated from tourists than the other islands of the Banda group. Styles of dancing include jele (sele), nama (the circle dance), buruk, bejo, kelakeng, semuggur and dana dani. One very interesting performance noted on this island is given by an orchestra of flutes. It is common in the Christian areas of Maluku, (NTT"s neighbouring province to the North) to find church groups playing flutes in large ensembles. In Maluku, the flutes are tuned to the Western scale, and generally play Western tunes or hymns. These ensembles usually have a range of flute sizes to allow for an S.A.T.B.7 interpretation of the piece, and include a Western-type side-drum accompaniment. In North Sulawesi around the city of Manado, this type of performance has been carried to the ultimate stage with the invention of many local instruments to simulate a full brass band. A feature of these groups is that they use a Western style conductor. In Lamahera a large flute ensemble which used traditional tunings and played traditional music was accompanied by the Western style of side drum and had a Western-style conductor. The resultant sound was quite different from that normally heard in Maluku. As this is a Christian area of Lamahera, it is possible that the idea of such a performance came from members of the Church or it could have been seen on a television programme and tried out. Both means of cross fertilisation are possible.

Performances and ceremonies on Lamahera are sometimes very similar to those of Melanesian areas of the Pacific. It was here that the author collected a story about the roots of a banyan tree which travelled a long distance and came up in a cave which was an important shrine in pre-Christian times. A similar story of a banyan tree growing on an island off the coast whose roots came up in a hole on the mainland was once told to the author in New Caledonia. Ceremonies also bore a striking resemblance to those of the Pacific. Lamahera, of all the islands of NTT, is probably the most Melanesian in culture.

The closest of the Banda islands to Flores and therefore the most accessible. Styles of dancing include dana dani, lilin (the circle dance), hanja (as on Solor), dolo and hureng. There is also a dance called mensa which is a pencak silat dance. Pencak Silat performances are common throughout Indonesia, but vary from region to region according to the type of ensemble playing in the area. They use the movements of silat, the Indonesian martial arts and translate these movements into dance. As the study of martial arts is a popular pastime in Indonesia, this type of dancing is also popular wherever silat is practised. In the NTT region, the author has knowledge of its performance both here and on Roti.

On most of these islands, there is a considerable difference between the types of performance found around the coastal fringes and that found in the mountain villages of the interior. All the islands are volcanic and have majestic peaks rising against the skyline. Common among those dances found in the mountain areas is the bamboo dance mentioned earlier called gaweau on Adonara.

These neighouring islands are similar in character and have many cultural traits in common. For centuries, Rajas have ruled areas on both sides of the narrow straight which separates the islands for centuries. Between them rises the third small island Pura which is the cone of a volcano sticking straight out of the water. It is most spectacular. Common styles of dancing in this area include lego which is the circle dance, and is accompanied by gongs in this region. While war dances have not been mentioned specifically, they are found in all the regions discussed above. Normally such dances use swords or spears as the dancers act out preparations for war. In Alor, there is an interesting variation on this which seems quite modern: in the dance called rotan, the dancers carry a thick cane of rotan while performing. Two men dance at a time and take it in turns to hit the other across the legs with the cane. It was explained that these were the men who would protect the village after the others had gone to war. Therefore, they also needed to show their courage.

These two islands are the home of the moko discussed earlier. The moko can be traced back at least 5000 years to the Dong Son period. While relics of this type of bronze instrument are found in many parts of Asia today, nowhere else is it still used in performance. As explained previously, its most important function is as bride price, which probably explains why so many of these instruments exist on these two islands and nowhere else in the archipelago. There is no reliable estimate of how long moko have been used on these islands. Presently, most families would own at least one moko. Other styles of dancing in this area include jaikang, tokat, tifolhatia.

One of the most interesting facets of the cultural change taking place in Indonesia and in NTT particularly, is the way in which certain types of performances seem to survive change and prosper alongside the newer forms. Examples of this mentioned earlier are the oha performance of Solar and the bonet and tebe-tebe performances in Timor which seem to be as original as they could be, as they rely on singing as an accompaniment. Alongside these simple forms hanja is the same dance with a drum accompaniment. Oha, bonet and hanja have been around long enough to develop their own traditions: each form now has a repertoire of pantun specifically devoted to it. Also no able is the survival of the circle dance alongside all the modern innovations. Variations of this dance exist everywhere and they are accompanied by anything from voices only, to a major ensemble. These are performed alongside the dana dani which has both strong Muslim characteristics in the drumming and Portuguese characteristics in the performance of the gambus.

New Order policies have led to prosperity amongst the people which has enabled them to have access to such consumer items as radios, television sets, and tape recorders. This general access to recording technology has had a particular effect. A man of sixty six years once described a visit by Kunst to his village when the man was only a boy of five. 'People came from everywhere to sing for him because he had a machine which could play back their voices', he said. Today everyone has their own cassette recordings of all the traditional music in the area and often they would rather offer them to the ethnomusicologist than go to the trouble of performing again for a new recording to be made.

1. J. Kunst: The Cultural Background of Indonesian Music New York: AMS Press, 1949. P.10

2. Pantun is the term in this area for poems of both the long epic type, which mostly relate to historical subjects, and the short poem used in love songs. In other parts of Inodnesia, especially Java, a distinction is made with the longer poem called syair.

3. Bronze drums closely associated with the Dong Son culture are found throughout Asia, the earliest dating from over 2000 years ago. Mantle Hood's discussion on their influence on Javanese gamelan music, seeThe Evolution of the Javanese Gamelan Vol.1, New York: C. f. Peters Corporation, 1980, Chapter VIII. Dong Son drums were spread throughout the Indonesian archipelago. The largest example extant is now kept in a temple in the village of Pejeng, Bali. Known as 'the moon of Pejeng' it measures over 2 metres in diameter. According to legend it was one of the wheels of the moon's chariot which fell to earth. (See reference in Hood pp 147-8.)

4. Other examples of this type of music construction in the Indonesian archipelago include the tarawangsa from Sunda in Java, the kecapi from Sulawesi, the juke or jungga from Sumba the juke from Timor, and the sambe from Kalimantan. All of these instruments have different styles of playing and are used for differing musical roles.

5. Most of the research on Indonesian contact with Australia in the pre and post colonial times has been centred on the Makassarese connection and the annual journey for collecting teripang. Teripang, sea cucumber or beche-de- mer are exported almost exclusively to China as a delicacy. This research has been well documented. 'It is importnt to realise that Macassanss were coming right out to the centre of the Indonesian Archipelago, and to distinguish them from casual (author's italics) visitors to northern Australia from neighbouring islands. (C. C. McNight, The Farthest Coast: A selection of writings relating to the History of the Northern Coasts of Australia. Melbourne University Press. 1969. p.8. McNight goes on to say, "A less important branch of the industry (teripang) was conducted along the Kimberly coast, but we do not know so much about this area' (p.9). The author has come across maps of the Western Australian coast, coves and islands which bear Indonesian names as far south as Rottnest. The fishermen of Roti, the southernmost island of Indonesia, have been fishing in this area for hundreds of years. It would seem that much of the contact between Indonesia and Australia is still to be documented.

6. See also Margaret Kartomi's Chapter 10 in this book.

7. Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass.

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