Wayang Workshop: Balimodule, Denpasar, Bali, May 2-7, 2023, UNIMA-USA and University of California, Santa Cruz A workshop in Denpasar in May 2023 by I Nyoman Sedana and I Made Georgiana Triwinadi introduced foreign theatre practitioners to Balinese wayang kulit. Instruction focused on four character types and culminated in a performance based upon Arjuna’s Meditation. The workshop included visits to noted Balinese dalangs (puppet masters) at their sanggars (home studios) and performances of topeng, kecak, and trance dance enacted within temple contexts. Karen Smith is a recent President of UNIMA-USA. As a member of UNIMA International’s Executive Committee, she has been …
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Revitalizing Wayang Puppetry through Creative Lighting
Lighting is a very important element in wayang kulit (shadow puppetry). The use of modern lighting effects in wayang sometimes can actually weaken the appearance of the puppets because they are overshadowed by the glitter. The identity of Balinese wayang, with its aesthetic and symbolic values, demands lighting of a high capacity to illuminate, according to the form of the puppets, in a heightened style, creating a dramatic atmosphere via scenery or background in order to accommodate the shift in contemporary puppet audiences who tend toward realism.
Tutur Candra Bherawa: A New Balinese Theatre Work
I Gusti Putu Sudarta and I Gusti Made Darma Putra Pakeliran Tutur Candra Bherawa (Performance of the Teachings of Candra Bherawa), produced in April 2022 in Denpasar, Bali, was a total theatre performance exploring traditional theatre using song in storytelling. The melodies and vocals were not confined to Balinese and Javanese traditions but borrowed from South Asia’s Sufi qawwali and other spiritual song sources. The form was presented in the Balinese sangita (sung drama) form, which combined singing, instrumental music, puppetry, and dance. I Gusti Putu Sudarta has trained as a musician, composer, dancer, and dalang from his childhood in …
Cenk Blonk’s Balinese Shadow Puppetry During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Dru Hendro and I Made Marajaya Cenk Blonk (I Wayan Nardayana) is Bali’s best known shadow puppeteer (dalang). His moniker is the composite of the names of his two favorite punakawan (clown) characters, Cenk and Blonk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, using his Cenk Blonk Channel on YouTube, he presented a series of simple, ten-to-twenty-minute scenes, featuring clown characters. These were meant to educate the public around issues of COVID-19 and promote social distancing in the Balinese community. Dru Hendro is a graduate of and teacher at the Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI, Indonesian Arts Institute) in Denpasar, Bali. His extensive writings …
Surya Sewana in Balinese Wayang Wong Performance at Sanur Village Festival 2022
I Made Sidia Balinese see puppetry as the model and source of dance drama. A dalang (puppeteer) responds flexibly to the change from puppet, to masking, to human dancers and suits the needs of those seeking his/her expertise. To revive tourism, which had fallen due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 Sanur Village Festival (Sanfes) took the theme Surya Sewana (Glorifying the Sun). As a dalang, the author I Made Sidia, created a wayang wong (literally,“human puppetry”) performance staged at the festival telling the Ramayana story of the hermit Resi Wiswamitra, Rama, and Lakshmana carrying out the Surya Sewana ceremony …
Bhatara Kala: Sacred Myth in Balinese Wayang Parwa Shadow Puppetry
I Dewa Ketut Wicaksana, Ni Diah Purnamawati, and I Dewa Ketut Wicaksandita The sacred story of Bhatara Kala (God of Time) is presented for the sapuh leger (sweeping impurity) in Balinese shadow puppetry. The tale is derived from lontars (palm-leaf manuscripts) including Kala Tatwa (Reality of Kala), Kala Purana (Myth of Kala), and others. This symbolic story, related to magico-religious thought, provides guidelines for the community. This paper discusses five narratives in lontar versions of the tale, then notes the interpretation/analysis provided by Dalang I Made Sidja, a senior puppet master of the Balinese wayang tradition. Some of these ideas …
Training in Contemporary Balinese Wayang
I Nyoman Sedana The goal in studying Balinese wayang (puppetry) is to understand its traditions, aesthetics, philosophy, and innovations to create productions that appeal to contemporary viewers. Through family- and school-based training, students are taught kawi dalang (the creative art of the puppet master). At Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI, Indonesian Institute of the Arts) in Denpasar, curricular innovations have occurred and theory and practical work combine. Students’ final projects often favor contemporary wayang using new puppets, innovative stories, music, and manipulation techniques. I Nyoman Sedana is a professor at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Denpasar, director of Balimodule, …
From the Guest Editors: Kathy Foley and I Nyoman Sedana
Puppetry International Research as a free online scholarly publication was first an idea raised during an UNIMA-USA leadership retreat. Board members brainstormed ways the organization could better serve puppetry locally and internationally—a free online scholarly journal was suggested by Paulette Richard and became one of the “dreams” that made our strategic plan. To become a reality was the work of many hands. It is the hard work and willingness of Claudia Orenstein at Hunter College to take the administrative steps for hosting that made it possible. The meticulous eyes of Karen Smith were crucial: her experience in copy editing World …
From the Editor
I am thrilled and honored to introduce the first issue of Puppetry International Research, the online, open access, peer review journal devoted to puppetry, masks, and related arts, a project of UNIMA-USA supported by the CUNY Academic Commons. UNIMA-USA’s magazine, Puppetry International, has been serving the puppetry community since 1995, under the direction of Andrew and Bonnie Periale until 2022, and now with Alissa Mello and Mike Kelly at the helm. In recent years it expanded to include a peer review section, edited by Dassia N. Posner, allowing for more scholarly approaches to material. While these strong projects continue, our …
