Culture of Indonesia influences ranging from neighbouring Asian countries; such as India, China, and Middle East to European western styles through colonisation. Each ethnic group has their own distinct dances; makes total dances in Indonesia are more than 3000 Indonesian original dances. However, the dances of Indonesia can be divided into three eras; the Prehistoric Era, the Hindu/Buddhist Era and the Era of Islam, and into two genres; court dance and folk dance. There is a continuum in the traditional dances depicting episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata from India, ranging through Thailand, all the way to Bali. There is a marked difference,
Indonesia Handbook Indonesia Handbook Bill Dalton's Indonesia Handbook, published by Moon Publications in California, was the main English language tourist guide book for the whole of Indonesia between the 1970s and the 1990s. The book originated in 1973 as a typewritten publication, "A Traveler's Notes: Indonesia", printed by Dalton when he was travelling in Australia. This led Dalton to form his company, Moon Publications, when he returned to California, and expand and publish his Travel Notes as a full book, the Indonesia Handbook. The earlier editions in the late 1970s were much smaller than the later editions. During the Suharto era the