Experiencing Malangan Dancing

Last week, the mother of a little girl in my ballet class invited me to come with their family to a place that teaches traditional Javanese dancing. As usual, I had no idea what to expect, but excitedly said yes. She met me at my kost this morning and I rode there with her and her daughter on my bike.
We ended up at a place that had an outdoor stage and had about 20 kids learning and praciticing a traditional Malangan Dance. I started talking with a girl there and she said that all the kids are "anak jalanan" or street kids. In Indonesia there are many kids who beg for money on the side of the street or at intersection, many of whom are forced to beg for money by their parents, who can't provide for them. This group was formed by an older Indonesian man and a group of students at a local university. It's a place for these kids to meet every week to learn this dance and eventually perform around Malang. I got to talk to the man about his vision, which revolves around teaching these kids this type of dance as a way to learn more about Indonesian culture and sharing it with the people of Malang. He also wants to pour into the education of these street kids and provide education where they may not receive it otherwise. It was so awesome to talk with him, hear his throughts and vision and to share some ideas. I am looking forward to going there again and being able to help out in any way that I can. These kids are precious and to see God's desire for them to be cared for through this man is great.
This was definitely not at all what I expected, but it turned out to be way better!! Here are a couple pics and a video of the kids dancing. Sorry in advance for the horrible quality, but they were taken on my phone. Stupid me forgot my camera. The kids made me join in toward the end of the time, but I was AWFUL. Don't worry...the man who started it gave me a DVD of how to learn the dance! Now I can practice in my kost with my kostmates!! :)

A traditional mask that is worn in a Malangan dance. Don't ask me how they see through the little slit for eyes!