Dalang

The dalang creates an aesthetic construct with layers of components. Voice, sound, diction, intonation and rhythm interconnect when he describes a scene, creates dialogue (with different personalities), introduces humor, makes Bhima move, and moves two wayang in combat.

Goenawan Mohamad

July 12, 2021

ON July 2, 2021, Ki Manteb Soedharsono died, aged 72. 

There were maybe 500 people around the Sitihinggil pavilion. Some were sitting on the grass of Yogyakarta Kraton’s (palace) northern square, the Alun-Alun. Ki Manteb was performing the story Makutarama. The audience was spellbound. On the screen, the white monkey, Hanuman, the champion warrior who was now an old sage, declared his fervent wish: death… 

Sitti

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