First Lady Joins Balinese Rites--Up to a Point

Taking a one-day crash course in Indonesian culture Thursday, First Lady Nancy Reagan agreed to join some Balinese children in a traditional dance but did not offer to have her teeth filed, a process that Indonesians believe cleanses one of anger, arrogance, confusion, greed, desire and jealousy.

On more familiar territory, Mrs. Reagan had tea with Indonesia’s first lady, Siti Hartinah Suharto, watched woodcarvers and stonecutters, looked at handicrafts and received a hot-pink orchid that has been named after her. Later in the evening, the Suhartos hosted a dinner for President and Mrs. Reagan.

It was the first day of activities on Mrs. Reagan’s four-nation tour of the Far East, which culminates in Tokyo at the economic summit. Today, she goes off on her own to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She is scheduled to fly on to Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday. Late Thursday night, Mrs. Reagan’s press secretary, Elaine Crispen, said the Bangkok leg of the trip was still on despite reports of a government shake-up.

Amid tight security, Mrs. Reagan’s day began on this exotic island with a visit to a replica of a Balinese housing compound, which consists of several small thatched huts, a coop for ducks and chickens and some stone statues that are draped in fabrics and serve as gods.

As several Balinese people sang and played traditional songs in the scorching weather, Mrs. Reagan went from hut to hut with Mrs. Suharto and the wives of several other Indonesian officials and learned of Balinese life.

She learned that the tooth-filing ceremony takes place in an open-air hut called the Bale Gede, brightly decorated with purple, red and green fabrics with gold designs painted on them. Here the top front six teeth are filed down to eliminate the six undesirable character flaws mentioned above. This done, the adolescents can proceed safely to adulthood.

“Does this still go on?” Mrs. Reagan asked one of the Indonesian guides.

She was told that it does.

“Have you had it done?”

The woman said yes and smiled.

“Really?” said Mrs. Reagan. “It doesn’t look like it. When you say ‘filed’ I think of something very short.”

In the courtyard of the compound, highly skilled woodcarvers and stonecutters sat on straw mats on the ground as Mrs. Reagan watched them work. She also saw kitchen workers sitting on a platform, working with knives and large wooden bowls to prepare the meal for the three generations of family that would live in such a compound.

Outside the compound, Mrs. Reagan saw a dazzling array of gold and silver works, bone carvings, shadow puppets and silk batik, some of it woven with 24-karat gold designs. She was especially interested in the painted masks used in Balinese drama, asking about the characters and what the colors meant.

Her next stop was a large open-air pavilion, brightly decorated with fabrics, flowers, straw and a painted mural. There, Mrs. Reagan and Mrs. Suharto sat in red velvet chairs and sipped cold drinks as they watched two groups of young girls perform traditional Balinese dances.

After the dance, two of the young performers went up and took Mrs. Reagan by the hand and led her to the straw mat dance floor, where she made a valiant attempt to flit her hands Indonesian style. Mrs. Suharto joined in, faring a little better. But Mrs. Reagan won points for trying.

“You’re going too fast!” she protested as she tried to follow along.

“She picked up the dance quickly,” said the children’s dance teacher, Swasthi Banden.

Mrs. Reagan may not have agreed. After the exhibition, she told the littlest dancer, “I’ll never be as good as you.”

Later in the afternoon, Mrs. Reagan attended a tea with the wives of U.S. and Indonesian officials. At the tea, she was presented a shocking pink Dendrobium Nancy Reagan orchid, a cross of two Hawaiian orchids containing star-shaped blossoms.

The Reagans are guests of honor at a dinner given by President Suharto. In View, Part V.