Balinese

The team, which comprised musicologists, psychologists, linguists, evolutionary biologists and professional musicians, recorded songs in 55 languages, including Arabic, Balinese, Basque, Cherokee, Maori, Ukrainian and Yoruba.

Their December concert will feature Balinese gamelan, and in May, film and chamber music will combine to explore the connection between mothers and their children.

Still, I didn’t even learn the two most important words in Balinese — please and thank you.

At only 30, Maripaz has hands that fan and twist like a Balinese dancer’s, a wavering voice, and a stiff, awkward gait.

“And for them, it is probably not a big thing, but for Balinese, … it’s just an insult.”