We spent several early mornings getting into position to photograph the sunrises over various volcanos. When doing that, you are at the mercy of the weather, and sometimes you get a beautiful photograph, and other times a bust. Here is a sunrise overlooking terraced rice fields at Batumonga, Toraja in South Sulawesi. After the sun had risen, we walked down steep inclines to visit a local village.

One afternoon we visited a small music and dance academy called the Oni Balio Bamboo Orchestra and Traditional Dance Academy in Tana Toraja (upper-left). Mr. Palondongan (upper-left and lower-right), has been teaching in the village of Sangngalla for several years, and his academy has won numerous trophies (lower-left) in Makassar.

The kids all played handmade instruments made from bamboo (center). Each instrument is a fixed length, and can only play a single note. Thus, a bamboo orchestra is composed of many musicians, each prepared to play their single note at the proper time, like bell ringers. If done properly, in the correct sequence and timing, the result is a rather pleasant composite sound. A couple of flutes accompanied the orchestra. The boys also demonstrated various traditional warrior dances from the area (lower-left).

Unique to the island of Sulawesi, bamboo orchestras are the regional music played in many of the villages of Tana Toraja for weddings, parties and other cultural ceremonies.

These students had been practicing their music, but were then interrupted by COVID. They only recently resumed practice, and have very little chance to play for a live audience not composed of family and friends. Watch the video below to hear how these instruments sound, when played by kids just getting back into the habit of playing together.

You can really see the joy in the faces of the kids here when they were dancing. Other dance academies have been shut down in this area and have not yet reopened.

After the dance performance, the girl dancers modeled for us in their traditional costumes. Their stage and backdrop was located at a traditional Torajan house just down the hill from the dance academy. Dave Metcalf, our photo guide, helped set up the location and the poses.