Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emiko Saraswati Susilo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Emiko Saraswati, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

My training as a Balinese dancer/musician and voice actor were two very different endeavors.

As a traditional Indonesian artist, my life was infused with the aesthetics and community of our Indonesian art forms and culture since before I was born. It was as fundamental to me as learning to speak my first language (English). In fact, maybe gamelan is my first language :-) As an adult I continue to learn and study (I just had a lesson with my teacher two days ago).

As a voice actor I found classes online. Took classes at a school in the SF Bay Area and as I got more proficient began to focus my study on the specific skills I wanted to hone (commercial reads, characters, tech, nurturing relationships with clients). I also continue to study voice acting even though I have been blessed to do a lot of work.

I think the learning process is just that, a process. If I had more money, I would just use it all to study!! But you have to make life happen too, feed the kids, keep a roof over your head. So I don’t know if I could have done it faster. It’s going to take my entire life, and I’m happy with that.

Skills! They are so different for voice acting and Balinese dance and yet… there are some deep commonalities.

Understanding who your character is. What are you wanting to DO as your character? Why? Who are you connecting with.

I think that ‘
connecting, communicating, being relevant to the person you are with, and giving your heart into that moment… are skills that are needed for these very different forms.

Obstacle! It’s ALWAYS myself. My own brain saying “You can’t do this. You’re not good enough. You’ll never be as good as _____. You don’t deserve this happiness”

Obviously those are personal mindset things that I need to work on. I AM working on it, and it makes me a much happier human.

So another essential skill, I guess is to know how to be supportive of yourself when you face disappointment or challenges. And how to give yourself some acknowledgment when you have been able to achieve something.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a voice actor, Balinese dancer, choreographer, vocalist, writer.

I have studied and performed Balinese music and dance for decades. It is the lifeblood of my soul. I am the associate director of Cudamani, an amazing ensemble and arts school in Bali. I have toured all over the US and performed on gorgeous stages like the Odean at the actual Parthenon! The Hollywood Bowl, the Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Bali Arts Festival…. And perhaps more meaningful of all, is have danced in the mist in the middle of the night – in temples in Bali where the spirits and gods of the invisible world are our most important audience. Barefoot, on mossy concrete, sometimes in the dark but with the most beautiful music surrounded by my family and friends who were also dancing. Those moments were precious gifts to me.

I am also a voice actor. I love this so much. It brings me incredible joy. I do commercial, narration, and character work. I also have done dubbing and looping which are incredibly fulfilling and challenging. Because I speak Bahasa Indonesia and Basa Bali (Balinese and Indonesian), I am sometimes able to do projects in these languages, which makes me so happy! I have been fortunate to have my voice be part of things like The Creator, Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS 5 as a singer and composer), Calm, a some Disney + things for Raya and the Last Dragon, various environmental projects, and a documentary film that coming up but is still under NDA 🩷

I also write. Writing is becoming more important to me these days. After many years as a performer, I realize that we are limited by the characters and stories we are given. There are not that many stories being told that connect to my personal history or my family’s experience. I want to change that.
I want our voice to be heard.

I have written a couple of things. I just finished a children’s book called Nyepi- The Day of Silence.
I also just finished the audiobook version of my book Good to Know about Bali. I’ve also written articles on dance and culture. And I have some things I’m working on now!
More children’s stories and another project that is still too shy to be mentioned publicly :-)
She is still dancing around in my head when I wake up in the morning…

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’m not sure where I learned this lesson, but somehow I felt that I was always inadequate and undeserving of things like success and feelings of being loved. This made me constantly strive to prove myself and had me feeling a sense of failure when others around me were experiencing a moment of success. In some ways that is a KIND of motivation? It makes you work really ahrd. But it’s not really a healthy or sustainable model, I think.

I worked very hard, but always felt embarassed, genuinely uncomfortable when someone would praise me. I did a lot of live performance, and I always hated bowing at the end. A standing ovation just made me feel incredibly awkward, and I sometimes even got into arguments with our producers and directors because I really did not want to take bows. I just wanted to go backstage and quietly put away my costume.

Recently a mentor of mine shared that his teacher told him, that the moment an audience applauds is THEIR opportunity to speak. Their opportunity to show their feelings, that we have spent this time on stage telling ‘our’ story and the curtain call was a time to listen to the audience. This changed my perspective completely on that, it feels like communication and connection and not ‘praise’.

In any case, I am still in the process of trying to unlearn the feeling that I’m not adequate…to really feel like “I am enough.” Working with amazing teachers like Jim Edgar and Johnny Gidcomb, who are my voice acting mentors has helped me to be a more settled human. To be able to look at my work and where I am and say, “Yeah, that’s pretty cool. I feel good about accomplishing that.”

I think it’s SO important to be able to do that, because we WILL face challenges in life. And we need to have a regular practice of looking positively at our accomplishments to help us build strength and resilience for the times that will be challenging.

I am learning to accept when people express appreciation for something I’ve done. I remember, they are communicating something to me, and I need to listen to that, just like I would any other communication. I now take that energy of discomfort and look the person in the eye and tell them with my heart and soul that I appreciate them, that their words mean a lot to me, and it becomes a moment of human connection.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I feel that it is incredibly important for us to know one another’s stories. What our history is, what our life experience has been. For me personally, this has meant doing more writing and starting to have the courage to tell stories that are from my family and my life. Not things that I think will become Hollywood blockbusters…but stories that are honest, heartfelt. I truly believe that when we tell our stories in that way, that it has the possibility of connecting to other people and perhaps resonating with their life.

I also feel it’s important to uplift other people. As a voice actor, I always try to speak from a place of authenticity and honesty…no matter what the script is…
I also try to support others who want to tell their stories, who are searching for a way for their voices to be heard. Sometimes I try to offer concrete support (buying people’s music, books, tickets) and sometimes it’s simply being someone’s cheerleader – celebrating their wins with them and sitting beside them at times of frustration.
So I guess my goal or mission in my creative journey is the same as my life goal. It is to be a loving, supportive human being who is willing to put my heart out there and ready to embrace those around me with respect, love, and kindness.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.emikosusilo.com/
• Instagram: @emikosusilo
• Facebook: @emikosusiloactor
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emikosusilo/
• Other: Here is a link to “Nyepi: The Day of Silence” a book my family wrote together about Balinese New Year, which is a ‘day of silence’

  https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?Qc68uoH4PIEcknqtALVtYJRuQs99gQx1iqiEuzWbmyV

  I also wanted to put in a link to the audiobook “Good to Know about Bali” but I it’s a long link, is that ok? Is there another way I should send it?

Image Credits

Headshot by: Theo & Juliet
Good to Know about Bali Book cover: Emiko Susilo
Nyepi Book Cover: I Dewa Putu Berata