The dhalang or dalang ( jv, dhalang; id, dalang) is the

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...

in an

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

wayang , also known as ( jv, ꦮꦪꦁ, translit=wayang), is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originating from the Indonesian island of Java. refers to the entire dramatic show. Sometimes the leather puppet itself is referred to as . Perfor ...

'' performance. In a performance of ''wayang kulit'', the dalang sits behind a screen (''kelir'') made of white

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

stretched on a wooden frame. Above his head, hanging from beams attached to the top of the screen, is the lamp (''blencong''), which projects the shadows onto the screen. In front of the dhalang is a stage (''debog''), traditionally made from the trunk of a

banana tree A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

, into which the sharpened control rods of the puppets can be pushed to keep them in position during the performance. To his left is the puppet chest (''kotak''), and to his right is the puppet chest's lid, on which the puppets sit ready for use. In addition to moving the puppets and speaking their lines, the dalang is also responsible for giving cues to the

gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

. This is done principally by playing the

kepyak The Kepyak is a percussion instrument played by the dalang (puppeteer) of a wayang performance in Java, Indonesia. It is a struck idiophone consisting of several bronze or iron plates attached by strings (in Surakarta) or a single plate (in Yogya ...

, a metal plate or set of plates played with his foot, or by rapping on the puppet chest (''kotak'') with a wooden mallet held in the left hand. The art of puppetry (''pedhalangan'') was traditionally handed down within families, and dalangs formed a type of informal caste within Javanese society. The women of these families traditionally were expert players of the '' gendér'', an instrument which has a particularly important role in accompanying ''wayang'' performances. The sons of dalangs were often apprenticed out around the age of 13 to another dhalang. His role included helping to set up the screen ahead of a performance, performing the afternoon show before a main all-night ''wayang'', and sometimes acting as an accompanying musician or as an assistant puppeteer. He would also frequently end up marrying his master's daughter, who would have been trained as a gendér player by her mother. The social aspects of the dalang caste are covered by Victoria Clara van Groenendael's book ''The Dalang Behind the Wayang'' (Dordrecht, 1985). Much of the traditional training of dhalangs was in the form of a practical apprenticeship, with a certain amount of spiritual training thrown in. This included meditation and a form of ascetic exercise known as '' kungkum'', in which meditation is carried out naked at night while immersed up to the neck in water. Such practices are felt to be essential in building up the stamina to perform for nine hours at a stretch. A further ascetic element is that dhalangs never eat during the performance, although almost all drink sweet tea and many also smoke heavily. In recent times, however, schools teaching a standardized version of ''pedhalangan'' have been founded, such as the Habirandha school within the Kraton

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

. The Habirandha school published its own textbook, the ''Pedhalangan Ngayogyakarta'', in 1976. Standardized ''pedhalangan'' is also taught at Indonesian state institutions such as the

Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta , native_name_lang = jv , image = , image_size = , caption = , latin_name = Institutum Indonesia de Ars: Yogyakarta , other_name = ISI Yogyakarta, ISI Jogja , motto = , established = July 23, 1984 , type = Public , city = Bantul , st ...

. ''Pedhalangan'' falls into three main areas - musical, vocal and puppetry. The musical aspects include the direction and cueing of the gamelan and the singing of mood-setting songs (''

sulukan ''Sulukan'' normally refers to mood setting songs by a puppeteer ''( dhalang)'' in Javanese '' wayang'' ("puppet") performances in Indonesia. The term can also refer to the pathetan pieces played before and after ''gamelan'' pieces in a non-wayan ...

''), the vocal includes the recitation of set texts at scene-openings (''kandha'') and the extemporisation of dialogue showing mastery of Javanese linguistic etiquette, while the puppetry itself ('' sabetan'') involves a complex system of movements and positions. There is an extensive study of ''sabetan'' in English by Roger Long (see Further reading).

External links

NIU page on the dalang
{{Commonscat, Dalang (puppeteer) Gamelan Wayang

See also

Further reading

External links