Wheaton student wins fellowship to study in Bali

While New England was buried in snow and ice this month, Swansea resident Jennifer Rolfs was enjoying warm weather while conducting research in Bali. The Wheaton College senior was awarded a Davis International Fellowship from the college to spend the month of January completing research for her senior honors thesis in anthropology.

Rolfs, an anthropology major and theater minor, spent the spring 2000 semester in Bali and returned this January to study the process of training and preparing to dance for ritual performances.

Her honors thesis focuses on the anthropological exploration of performance in relation to divine inspiration. ''In Bali, the word for theater is upcara, which translates loosely as ceremony,'' Rolf wrote in her application for the fellowship. [OE]The Balinese explain that God, the benefactor of performances, as well as the ultimate cause of all benefits, chooses someone with a pure heart to perform.''

While in the village of Bedulu in Bali, Rolfs planned to participate in a massive temple ceremony called Semouan Tiga, held every three years in the Balinese calendar. Rolfs planned to photograph and tape sessions of the temple festival, which includes performances and demonstrations by dancers, carvers and other artisans. ''In Bali, theater is defined so inextricably by its culture and religion that it is an excellent target for the anthropological approach that I want to pursue,'' Rolfs wrote. ''The [Davis Fellowship] will help me blend the two primary disciplines I study at Wheaton.''

Rolfs, the daughter of Mary and Harry Rolfs of Swansea, will graduate from Wheaton in May. Her post-graduate plans include graduate study in theater and anthropology at the International School for Theater Anthropology in Holsteboro, Denmark.
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