/ Modified nov 16, 2017 4:17 p.m.

The Mysterious, Mystical Sound of Gamelan

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Water conservation vs. water crisis; what is it like to be a clown in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade?; and Chris Dashiell on the unnerving 1968 film "Targets".

gamelan ensemble hero The musical ensemble Gamelan Dewi Malam.
courtesy Martin Randall

Featured on the November 17th, 2017 edition of ARIZONA SPOTLIGHT with host Mark McLemore:

  • By 2019, government predictions say the water in the Colorado River could be at a dangerously low level. Some local residents are not waiting until then, but are making major efforts to conserve water now in order to avoid crisis later. Christopher Conover reports...


water conservation hand washing spotlight
  • What is it like to entertain the estimated 4 million people who gather in New York for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? Since 2001, Tucsonan Susan Claassen has made the journey to participate in the parade doing what she loves best - being a clown. Mark talks with Claassen about taking part in an American tradition that began in 1924...


susan claassen taxi clown spotlight Susan Claassen as a clown in the 2006 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
courtesy Susan Claassen

susan claassen macys parade spotlight Susan Claassen and a drum major friend from the 2011 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
courtesy Susan Claassen
susan claassen dalmation clown spotlight Susan Claassen as a dalmatian clown in the 2014 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
courtesy Susan Claassen
  • Between the all-too frequent headlines about gun violence, film essayist Chris Dashiell revisits the unnerving movie called Targets, which he finds just as relevant today as when it was made fifty years ago...


targets movie spotlight Director Peter Bogdanovich's "Targets", an unusual film about gun violence from 1968.

  • And, explore the mysterious, mystical sounds of gamelan, as Dan Kruse visits Gamelan Dewi Malam, a group of devotees who practice this style of Indonesian music right here in Tucson...


gamelan group unsized image
courtesy Martin Randall

ARIZONA SPOTLIGHT airs every Friday at 8:30 am and 6:00 pm and every Saturday at 5:00 pm on NPR 89.1 FM / 1550 AM.

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