Sitting at the Feet of Gurus

Deena Burton is well known for her accomplishments as a dancer choreographerproducer and scholar of Indonesian Arts. In the course of her research she cameacross the pioneering work of Claire Holt who had written about art and culturein New York and Europe especially the rise of Modern Dance between the fi rstand second World Wars. During a trip to Indonesia in 1930 Claire Holt becameenamored of Javanese dance. She stayed for many years on and off and was amongthe community of artists and anthropologists living in Bali at that time includingWalter Spies Colin McPhee Miguel Covarrubias Margaret Mead and others whowere both deeply infl uenced by this ancient culture and obsessive in documentingIndonesias emergence into the 20th century. This book which began as DeenasPhD dissertation is a tribute to her own dedication and that of a kindred spirit- Claire Holt and their love for the arts and peoples of Indonesia.(Pictured above is a young Deena Burton beginning a masked dance).