Ratna Ayu and Gamelan Bali Nyepi video comparison.

I found it interesting that music from the same culture can have very different elements given a different setting. Both pieces were performed at the same time and both are Balinese Gamelan and were performed in the same year. Yet, the pieces gave off a different feel and a different sound.
An obvious difference was the visual presentation. In the Ratna Ayu, the audience was presented with ambient lighting, dancers and props. The music seems to be the secondary element to the performance thus making it seem more like a play. The dancers and the props are the centerpiece of the performance. It seems this way because the musicians are set aside and blended into the background of the stage with the help of the stage lighting. Rather than the dancer corresponding to the music in the conventional sense, it seems that the purpose of the music is to accompany and add to the effect of the dancer's movements. This performance also included a vocal element in the music. The lyrics of the music may tell a story and add to the theme of a play instead of a pure audial performance.
The Gamelan Bali Nyepi video clip lacked all the visual elements listed above. It seems the sole purpose of the performance is to present the audience with audial stimulation. There was no vocal elements that the listeners were presented with. The only thing to see was an ensemble of musicians playing on a beach. The simplicity of the performance gave way to the musical elements instead of a full-on broadway presentation.
The second video, Gamelen Bali Nyepi, seemed more authentic to me. I was given more of a musical statement than all the flashy effects. It seems as if the Gamelan performed by the California Institute of the Arts took elements of Gamelan and added American superficiality to the presentation to please the audience. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was great. But I felt like I was watching "The King and I" on broadway when I was watching the American performance.