Semara Ratih was formed in 1989 as a group of top musicians, composers, dancers, and choreographers from southern Bali, including many esteemed graduates of the national academy of the arts in Denpasar. Soon after its inception, the troupe became renowned in Bali for the power, excitement, dynamism, innovation, and dramatic and musical breadth of its performances (the name of the cast evokes the merging of the female and male principles of passion).

Anak Agung Gede Anom Putra leads Semara Ratih. A very talented Baris dancer who became a famous young Bali dancer for the intense control, power, and beauty of his Baris male warrior dance, for which he won first prize in an island-wide competition. As a child, ‘Gung Anom studied with Anak Agung Gede Mandera, director of the famous Gamelan Gunung Sari, one of the first Balinese troupes to travel abroad, and I Made Jimat, one of Bali’s most celebrated dancers. While still a graduate student in the national art academy, he led the group of outstanding artists who formed Semara Ratih.