Listen to the mesmeric tingling of the distant gamelan as dancers in ornate costumes strut the stage for gods, demons and men, with all the rituals and romance. Whatever the dance repertoire, while it is entertaining, the spiritual essence is not lost on a true-blue Balinese and the cognoscenti. Kebyar, Jauk, Legong, Barong, Olej Tambulilingan, Pendet, Kecak, Twalen, Rangda, Rarung, and this Gopala. Ting-tong, ting-tong, tong - the crisp sounds of the brass metallophones, xylophones, flutes and reed instruments, cymbals and gongs have both dancers and audience enthralled. Like in the Kecak, the black-and-white chequered cloth of the saput is distinct with some with the longer kancut with golden motifs. This dance derived from the Sanskrit word meaning 'cowherd' is mostly performed by young male dancers imitating the bovine mannerisms of a cow. Ahmad Zakii Anwar's Bali works were shown in the Distant Gamelan exhibition at Art Focus Gallery in Singapore in 1998. Ahmad Zakii Anwar's art career is paved with flowers. After graduating in Graphic Design from the Mara Institute of Technology, he made a lucrative career in advertising. But his debut solo with the Smokers series in 1997 proved hugely successful, culminating in a major mid-career survey in 2008, called Disclosure, at Galeri Petronas. A yellow-brick road of international solos followed: the United States, Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. His local record sale hit RM115,500 (The Edge Auction, June 2013) and at Christie's Hong Kong in November 2007, it was HK$427,500 (today's rate, RM233,265).