Readings are due on the date assigned. Each person should sign up the first class to be a discussant on one day: You will be responsible to give a critical synopsis (What does it say? Create 3 discussion questions and select 3-4 terms you think students should memorize from that paper.

The Education of a Balinese Dalang
Author(s): I Nyoman Sedana and Kathy Foley
Source: Asian Theatre Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring, 1993), pp. 81-100
Published by: University of Hawai’i Press on behalf of Association for Asian Performance
(AAP) of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE)
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1124218
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The Education of a Balinese Dalang
I Nyoman

Sedana

Edited by Kathy Foley

The dalang is the Balinese shadow-master, narrator, and puppeteer
who presents the stories of wayang parwa-the shadow theatre of the area
-via narration, song, dramatization, puppet manipulation, music, and
humor.1 Pedalangan is the lore, technique, and religious-philosophical
knowledge this artist must master. Although he most frequently performs
shadow puppetry, a dalang is also needed as narrator in genres which do
not involve puppets, including sendratari (dance drama), kecak (monkey
chant), and legong (a classical court dance traditionally done by prepubes-
cent children). This article focuses on the education of a dalang, drawing
on my experiences of studying in both formal school settings and informal
village situations. By informal I mean traditional study under the guid-
ance of an older teacher who is usually a relative. This informal study
contrasts with the institutional programs in which pedalangan has been
taught since 1974 via developed curricula and formal degrees. Although
my discussion will be colored by my personal experience of each of these
paths, it should give insight into how a contemporary Balinese gains
knowledge of pedalangan.

Traditional Education and Ritual Practices

Students of pedalangan are normally male descendants of dalang
who routinely assist their father or grandfather in performances by pass-

I Nyoman Sedana is a dalang and instructor at STSI-Denpasar. He studied at KOKAR/SMKI under
I Nyoman Sumandhi and received instruction from Dewa Ngakan Sayang and Dalang I Made Sidja.
In 1989, he was one of the first students to receive the advanced degree of SSP in pedalangan from
ASTI/STSI. He is currently an M.A. student in the Theatre, Speech, and Dance Department of
Brown University, where he supervises the gamelan angklung. He has also studied and taught at UC-
Santa Cruz, where the first draft of this article was written.

Kathy Foley has written widely on Southeast Asian theatre and is Southeast Asia editor for ATJ.
Asian TheatreJournal, Vol. 10, no. I (Spring 1993). ? 1993 by University of Hawaii Press. All rights reserved.

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Sedana

ing puppets or playing the gender (bronze metallophones, percussive
instruments which provide the background music for the performance).
By observation during performances, the students come to understand
the language, puppet movement, and story structure. Eventually they
become dalang themselves. In Balinese villages like Mas, Sukawati,
Buduk, Tunjuk, and Pacung, dalang train younger relatives in this way,
perpetuating the tradition.2

Students who are not from dalang families, such as myself, can also
enter this training system by persuading a dalang to take them as an anak
murid (“child by study”). The student visits the teacher for lessons and
accompanies his performance as a musician or puppet assistant for an
extended period. Eventually the student will have observed enough to
perform.3 Whether a student has the advantage of birth within a dalang’s
family or not, the training process is similar. First the student is attracted
to wayang by the jokes, battle scenes, movement, music, and story. As
curiosity flares, practical study begins. The student learns to move the
puppets, memorize the stock narration, and master the vocal style for
each puppet’s voice.

The neophyte approaches the basic framework of a performance
with its set movements, speeches, songs, and standard scenes. He studies
hard to master the main parts of a performance, including opening narra-
tions, audience scenes, love scenes, sad scenes, and fights.4 With the stan-
dard scenes well practiced, the young dalang is ready to perform. He will
still find it difficult if he is hired to perform more than once in the same
place, however, since his audience will expect variation in the stories he
presents, and he may not yet have the flexibility to adapt the “model” to
fit the needs of different lakon (stories). Embellishing the conventional
frame into a finished story is the most difficult task the beginner faces.
Your teacher offers you a model with standard dialogue and scenes, but
you must learn how to adapt these to the myriad lakon in the repertoire.
You pick up hints from watching your teacher and other dalang, but the
actual working out of the story and its successful performance depend on
your own skill and creativity.

As you follow the thread of pedalangan you find yourself starting
from the domain of entertainment, moving into the practical aspects of
the arts, and grappling with the meaning of each story and the ideas
behind the various social and aesthetic conventions that define its prac-
tice. As you attempt to understand the poetic passages and repertoire you
are moved relentlessly toward the sphere of knowledge and philosophy.
The beginning dalang does not realize his destination when he falls in love
with the puppets; only gradually does it dawn on him that he has chosen
to study philosophy and esoteric knowledge that require a lifetime to con-
template. He turns to selected lontar (palm-leaf manuscripts) to develop an

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EDUCATION OF A DALANG

understanding of the art.5 In performances, the dalang must always link
his understanding from literary and philosophical study to the realities of
the audience’s life. His understanding deepens as religious philosophy,
the current realities, and artistic technique become complementary forces
that build on one another to strengthen his performance.

The “curriculum” that the student encounters in the traditional

system will eventually force him to master many traditional Balinese arts.
The apprentice dalang must first learn gamelan: mastery of the gender which
accompany the performances will give him an understanding of the tun-
ing, moods, and melodic structures he must work with as he performs.
Likewise, he must understand the many poetic and song forms of Bali
which are included in different parts of a performance.

Most dalang today, even those who enter formal education, engage
in traditional training to some extent. Here I will discuss I Gusti Nyoman
Data, from Bedulu, Gianyar, Bali, who has trained exclusively in the tra-
ditional system, and add insights from my own experiences as an anak
murid of our common teacher, I Made Sidja. When Gusti Data was eight,
he was apprenticed to I Gusti Nyoman Gledag (dalang and traditional
painter) and learned to paint wayang puppets. By 1977, Gusti Data had
become a prosperous wayang painter and began to study performance
practice with I Made Sidja.

Sidja is a compendium of Balinese arts and wisdom. He is a dalang,
rice farmer, topeng dancer, arja (opera) instructor, honorary teacher in
SMKI (Indonesian High School of Performing Arts), puppet and mask
maker, an expert on traditional architecture, founder and director of

Sanggar Seni Paripurna (Paripurna Arts Group), and pembina (special
instructor) of arts at both a district (Gianyar) and provincial (Bali) level.
He has toured Korea, Sweden, Australia, and Japan and was the creator
in 1976 of wayang aria, a new form of puppetry which uses the Balinese
opera repertoire and singing style (Sedana 1986, 10). He is trusted by vil-
lagers to officiate at cremation ceremonies that require a dalang of signifi-
cant spiritual power and has an ample stock of supplies, including two sets
of puppets, masks,-numerous dance costumes, two quartets of gamelan gen-
der wayang, and the larger dance orchestra, gamelan semar pegulingan. Often
he performs two or three times a day. If he has two invitations which con-
flict, he sends a student to perform in his place, lending him the equip-
ment required. As he is a generous guru who teaches all who seek him,
regardless of compensation, students stream to his door.

Sidja does not teach in a systematic manner; rather, the onus is on
the student. When a student enters Sidja’s house, he knows that the out-
come of the lesson will depend on the questions the pupil has formulated.6
Sidja cares about the training and works to fulfill the students’ requests.
On a typical day, one student may come to tape record a specific musical

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FIGURE 6. I Made Sidja, dalang. Bona Village, Bali. (Photo: Gina Andrea Fatone)

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EDUCATION OF A DALANG

FIGURE 7. I Nyoman Sumandhi, dalang and director of SMKI/

KOKAR, giving a demonstration of wayang kulit technique.
(Photo: Larry Reed)

piece which he will later listen to over and over at home. A student who

also studies at a school may arrive with pad in hand to interview Sidja and
later use these notes for a class paper or to construct a performance.
Another more advanced student, who is already a practicing dalang, may
come asking for a new story or an embellishment on an old one. In this
environment, Gusti Data is a frequent participant. He never takes notes
or makes recordings as do students who also study in an institutional envi-
ronment, however, but rather asks questions, engages in discussion, and
watches, absorbing bits and pieces of the information sought by the other
students. He was an especially frequent visitor in the period when he was
beginning as a performer and needed to transfer his understanding of
pedalangan into practice.

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Sedana

If a student desires a more focused session with the master, he may

invite Sidja to critique a more private rehearsal in his own village. This
training is crucial to a young dalang who wants to advance swiftly. Before
my major recital for graduation from the academy, for example, I brought
Sidja to the university to critique my technique and direct the madewasa
(initiation ceremony).

In each such rehearsal, I found that Sidja teaches only a limited
amount. One session, for example, may focus on how to compose the dra-
matic structure of a scene by developing appropriate dialogue or narra-
tion. Another time, he may emphasize how to fit the sound created by
rapping on the puppet chest to the puppets’ movements or explain how to
arrange a romantic scene. On a third occasion, he may teach the student
how to flesh out the outline of a story, giving tips on how to hold particular
puppets or demonstrating how to distribute energy into distinctive pup-
pets’ manipulation. Sidja never organizes these lessons according to a
stated syllabus or lesson plan; organization and assimilation are the stu-
dent’s responsibility.

Sidja has particular foci that influence the practice of Gusti Data
and all his students. These include his stress on language, the musical use
of the puppet chest, and the ethics of the art. One of his prime concerns is

the correct use of grammar and language level (angah-unguhing basa). This
is important for wayang, since the bulk of dialogue used by the main char-
acters is in the archaic Javanese, or Kawi. Sidja will make sure his stu-
dents understand the differences between kalaganta, kita, inganika, kamung.
All mean “you,” but each indicates a different relationship to the individ-
ual addressed. Kalaganta indicates that the person addressed is a subordi-
nate-an animal, adversary, or enemy; kita/kamung refer to someone who
is the equal of the speaker; inganika refers to someone superior to the
speaker-an aristocratic person or god might be addressed in this way.
Sidja pushes the student to understand how these differentiations in lan-
guage operate in ways that go beyond grammatical thinking. He urges
them to consider the value choices they will make in performance dia-
logue. For example, he will have them contemplate the relative status of
Kresna, an incarnation of the god Wisnu, and Yudistira, whose spiritual
father is the god Darma. Which one, Sidja will ask, is higher in status or
prestige? Some students may say Kresna is higher because he is an avatar
and older in age. Other students may say Yudistira is actually higher
because he is predicated as the king among kings. In such lessons, the stu-
dent comprehends that this is not just an issue of grammar but also a test
of interpretation.

Another element Sidja emphasizes is musicianship. Sidja regards
the puppet chest as a musical element, emphasizing more than other
teachers the patterns of the cepala, a wooden hammer held between the

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EDUCATION OF A DALANG

dalang’s toes and struck on the box. Sidja’s style requires a particular pup-
pet chest sound, and students must practice long hours with the hammer
to win his approval.

Sidja also emphasizes a sense of values. I remember him telling me
that dalang have a duty to perform regardless of compensation. This
thinking reaps its reward. When I asked him, “Why don’t you buy a
car?” he replied, “Because all of my friends let me use their cars if I
need.” From Sidja the student learns in a deep way that the work of a
dalang is sacred.

A final element that clarifies Sidja’s practice is a sense of ritual.
The pedalangan props are powerful, and they are ceremonially honored
every 210 days on Tumpek Wayang (the puppet anniversary), as well as
by offerings at each performance.7 Puppets are kept in sanctified places
and even touching them outside of performance may be prohibited,
minimizing the student’s opportunity to rehearse with real puppets.

In traditional education, the student learns the importance of
maintaining purity, making proper offerings, and undergoing ceremonies
of initiation. I personally have experienced a number of rites including
madewasa and mawinten (self-purification). Madewasa is a ceremony which
determines the most auspicious day to start rehearsals or training accord-
ing to the solar and lunar calendars. Because the task of becoming a dalang
is sacred, the ceremony matur piuning (requesting permission of God and
asking for taksu, the spiritual power that infuses the performer during a
performance) is needed. Sometimes another ceremony, mesakapan (unifi-
cation), is also done at the same time to fuse the dalang with his puppets,
screen, music, and musicians. Before a young dalang graduates as a per-
former, self-purification (mawinten) is held under the direction of a priest
(pedanda or mangku).8

Although variations can be expected due to the desa-kala-patra
(place-time-circumstances) concept of Bali, which invites people to tailor
practice to suit personal needs, a description of my own ceremony gives a
sense of the event. About twelve years ago, in 1979, my mother asked the
pedanda in Geria Suniawati for advice. The pedanda decided to conduct the
ceremony in her house on the day of my Balinese birthday. In addition to

ordinary offerings such as bayuan (literally “energy”) and pejati (proof or
evidence), the pedanda required my family to obtain water from thirty-five
sources. Then a ceremony in the temple was conducted by a lower-caste
priest, a mangku. This temple, Pura Tegal Wangi, was the closest one to
my house in Tegallinggah, Bedulu village, Gianyar, Bali. Next, at my
home shrine a ceremony was conducted by my mother. Finally, at the per-
formance I myself conducted a ceremony assisted by relatives. As this
summary indicates, a mawinten ceremony can be complex and multilay-
ered, requiring the cooperation of religious specialists, family, and

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Sedana

friends. Though the dalang who is the guru (in this case Sidja) may not be
directly involved in ceremonies, the student will follow the traditions of
both his teacher and his village during such rituals.

Although I have significant experience in village training, when I
compare myself with Gusti Data I see significant differences. His study
has been much more orally and aurally oriented than mine. He has not,
as I have, sought training from a variety of teachers or sources. I can
recall his study in 1981 as he prepared with me for a “Parade of Dalang”
contest. I saw Data frequently at Sidja’s house and noted that he received
his technique and training from Sidja alone. His interest, it seems to me,
has been practice rather than theory, which I have explored in greater
depth. His path has brought him considerable success. By 1983, he had
earned enough through his numerous performances to acquire a set of
wayang parwa puppets and a quartet of gender wayang, a major investment
for a young performer. Moreover, he won first prize in 1990 at a puppet
contest held by the Bali Wayang Foundation (Yayasan Pewayangan Bali).

Traditional dalang education in Bali has few structural similarities
to the training in a formal school. There is no tuition, no certificate, no
freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior year, no paper assignments, no
quiz, no presentation, no oral examination. Only the audience is there to
act as a subtle judge, for they will approve of the performance or reject it.
What the student needs most is a proper attitude, an appropriate heart,
and respect for the instructor. Imitation, observation, and repetition will
help the student progress. Doing the performance-rather than talking,
writing, or thinking about it-will make the difference.

The Formal Education

Having discussed my training within the traditional system, I now

wish to backtrack a bit and explain the path that led me to dalang Sidja’s
door. My route, through a more formal system of schooling, was round-

about. My formal training began in SMKI/KOKAR (Balinese High
School/Conservatory of Traditional Music) and continued in STSI/ASTI
(Indonesian Advanced School/Academy of Dance).9 I currently hold a
B.A. from ASTI and the equivalent of an M.A. (SSP/Sarjana Seniman
Pedalangan, graduate of pedalangan arts) from STSI, and I am an instruc-
tor in the program. I know this system well from my thirteen years as a
participant.

SMKI

InJanuary 1978, when I started high school at SMKI/KOKAR in
Denpasar, both my experience of wayang training and the system itself

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EDUCATION OF A DALANG

were young. My love of the dalang’s art, born of watching many perfor-
mances in the village, was already well ingrained, but I had no instruc-
tion. By my second semester, I chose pedalangan as my major, with a
minor in music and dance. At that time, the pedalangan program was
about to graduate its first student. Four years later twelve peers and I
graduated from the newly established department. It was exciting to be
involved in the early years, for innovations were taking place. In 1977,
for example, the first Balinese women dalang were trained by I Nyoman
Sumandhi, then dean of the pedalangan department and now director of
the school. ?

With the establishment of pedalangan as a major, a study system
was developed that made the training more organized and academic than
in the village. In retrospect, I understand that the curriculum was not, as
in village training, just aimed at creating a dalang who understood philos-
ophy and could emulate the style of a teacher. The training did require us
to practice and to understand the art, but it had other objectives as well.
Embedded in the context of a formal academic institution created by the
national government, my training was designed to develop artists pre-
pared to explicate the arts in modern Bali. Here I offer my analysis of the
overall curriculum and the place of practical and theoretical courses in
wayang within that curriculum.

During the four years of high school training, students majoring in
pedalangan are required to take numerous relevant courses. Not all of these
are classes about wayang per se, although they may deal with related arts
that a dalang should know. By the time I graduated from SMKI in 1982, I
had taken twenty courses. I divide them into three categories: studies for
the heart, studies for the head, and studies for the art. The first category is
aimed, I believe, at fostering national thinking and derives from govern-
ment policy in Jakarta. The four classes I group in this category are reli-
gion, pancasila (the government program of national principles first articu-
lated by President Sukarno), Indonesian (a language which binds the
country together linguistically), and physical education, which develops
healthy citizens. These studies are not central to the training of a dalang,
but they are important for creating a good citizen of modern Indonesia.
No matter what the major of an SMKI student, these four courses are
mandatory. Since the stated goal of Indonesian education is to mold “a

good person and not just a clever one” (manusia susila yang cakap), each
student must get the equivalent of a C in these courses.

The second group comprises studies for the head. Courses include
cultural history, management, teaching methods, English, and arts expo-
sition. They develop the intellect and prepare students to manage the
arts, understand them in a historical context, and represent them to stu-
dents and international scholars. This group of courses, while important,

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Sedana

is not crucial and students will not be held back even if they obtain less
than a C.

The last group, studies for the art, includes eleven courses focused
on pedalangan. Classes include Balinese language and literature, theory of
wayang, theory of pedalangan, performance for the dalang, rhetoric for the
dalang, music, music theory, dance, dance theory, voice, and performance
practicum. In these courses the student must score at least a C. These stu-

dies approximate the training that would be communicated by a dalang to
his student in the village context. Yet the instruction varies considerably
from a village course of study. The variety of teachers, the structure of the
curriculum divided into semesters and academic years (as well as periods
in a school day), the format of individual sessions, the separation of the-
ory and practice, the holding of formal exams and graduations, the deem-
phasis of religious and ritual practices-these were some of the elements
which varied from the village model. I will discuss each of these elements
briefly.

I had over ten major teachers, each teaching a distinctive territory
in their specialized course. A number of instructors were skilled dalang as
well as fine teachers from other arts. Group projects, though occasionally
undertaken, were few, and the student’s time and loyalty were split
among a variety of instructors. 1′ In this my experience was quite different
from Gusti Data’s adherence to one teacher and one style. Each year in
pedalangan we would typically learn one story from beginning to end over
the year. The first year Dewa Ngakan Sayang gave us Arjuna’s Medita-
tion (Arjuna tapa), the second year I Nyoman Rajeg gave Bima as Sacrifice
(Bima dadi caru), the third and fourth years I Wayan Wija gave General
Drona (Senapati Drona). Ida Bagus Sarga taught the tale of Jayasemara, a
son of Arjuna. In studying with four teachers, all of them practicing
dalang, I was exposed to four divergent styles and given comprehensive
guidance through each particular story in regular progression. Again, this
instruction would be extraordinary in a village format.

Each practical class began with pamungkah (see Zurbuchen 1987),
the opening in which the puppets first appear. The overture, during
which a dalang makes a final check of all his equipment and prepares to
perform, was omitted, perhaps because our study focused more on the
manipulation of the puppets and the development of the story once pup-
pets were present. Each student would come to class having already mem-
orized the script (pakem) that had been given out in written form at the
beginning of the year. The instructor would usually sit beside the practic-
ing student, giving examples or playing the musical accompaniment. The
other students, awaiting their turn, played the music, watched, or moved
puppets against the wall which served as a substitute for the screen. Dur-
ing practice, the students were always encouraged to improvise on the

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EDUCATION OF A DALANG

assigned script to develop their talents. It was easy to discern which stu-
dents had talent in developing dialogue and which were just repeating the
given text. In one instance, I Nyoman Sumandhi challenged us to convey
the story without voice and with the puppet movements alone. The exer-
cise was educational-and again would not fit into traditional training.
The students who did not have a chance to practice on the screen in one
session would be given the first chance to practice in the next class. To
learn more quickly or to obtain a better grade, some students would stay
to practice after the class or work at home. At school, equipment such as
gamelan, puppets, and screen are available year-round, in contrast to the
traditional practice which confines puppet use to performance time.

The theory classes were presented in lecture format. Writing pakem
was emphasized, as well, and by the end of the third year we were com-

pelled by I Nyoman Sumandhi to compose our own pakem. By the fourth
year, when about 60 percent of the lessons are practical, we were accus-
tomed to creating our own scripts as well as the improvised commentary
that surrounds them. Though the basic frame of wayang has been well
developed for centuries, variation within that classical frame is enormous.
Consider pizza as a rough analogy: due to different ingredients and prep-
aration, one pizza may taste better than others, but all are still pizza. So it
is with pakem: all must adhere to the frame, but each student can develop
his own strength in relating the story. One presenter might put in a
romantic scene, the next might focus on a sad scene, and a third might
have both.

At the end of each semester, there was always a final examination
(ulangan umum). Students performed what they had learned over the
semester as best they could and their grades were duly recorded in the roll
book. Academic ceremonies like graduations and tests replace such vil-
lage rituals as madewasa, mawinten, and performances in front of the pub-
lic.12 After four years at SMKI, the normal student will have learned the
basic frame of one or two genres-probably the two most popular genres,
wayang parwa and wayang ramayana. The less frequently performed genres
of wayang cupak, tantri, arja, and calonarang, or more obscure stories like
Lubdaka and Sutasoma, cannot realistically be learned within this same
period.13 Nor will most students have acquired sufficient expertise to
adapt these principles expertly to to the range of lakon available for these
popular frames.

To summarize aspects of this system, then, students are separated
by class level, working with a variety of teachers, covering a set curricu-
lum structured by the teacher over a set time span. Theory and practice
are largely isolated from one another, and half the curriculum is devoted
to developing a good citizen and a well-developed arts educator. In this
system, examinations and graduations are formalized, while religious cer-

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Sedana

emonies and ritual practices are deemphasized. Students in this system
gain much more regular access to practical training, and they work in a
variety of teachers’ styles.

The onus for structuring the training is removed from the student
and assumed by the teachers. In some ways, then, the student is much
more active (with unlimited access to equipment for practice in contrast to
the very restricted access in the village system) and in other ways much
more passive (the students accept the teacher’s syllabus rather than con-
stantly improvising their own). Moreover, the teacher/student bond is
radically different. The student’s loyalty is not to one instructor but is
divided among a dozen teachers with different areas of expertise. The
SMKI graduate can perform a few stories, but usually lacks an under-
standing of how to adapt his or her learning to the many lakon he might

perform. Most who do develop into practicing dalang will want to study
further either in the village system or at STSI or pursue both these path-
ways.

STSI

Founded in 1967 as ASTI, STSI provides college and university-
level training in the arts and, since 1981, has offered degrees in peda-
langan. (The name was changed to STSI in 1989 when graduate degrees
were added to the B.A. offering.) This is the only university where
advanced formal education in Balinese pedalangan can be undertaken for
an academic credential. Pedalangan students at STSI typically arrive with
prior experience of wayang, and a full 95 percent are of dalang descent.14
Most of them have graduated from SMKI, where they may have majored
in music or dance, but a few may have gone to regular high schools or to
specialized high schools for Hindu religion (PGA Hindu). Typically the
pedalangan students at STSI evince a high level of self-esteem and many
have already received recognition for their artistic work from the village
audience. One of my peers, for example, had already won a major com-
petition for child dalang and came from Sukawati, a village noted for its
gifted dalang.

The enthusiasm and intensity of dedicated and talented students
from all over the island make STSI a more exciting environment for stu-
dying pedalangan than SMKI. Peer education is added to fine instruction.
Each student may add his own strengths, thus contributing to the devel-
opment of his peers. Better facilities, including a stronger library, as well
as outstanding instructors who have either acknowledged expertise as vil-
lage performers or the formal degrees of the academy, make STSI a
rewarding environment. Students who might become conceited in the
context of their village must measure themselves against the best instruc-
tors and top students from across the island.

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EDUCATION OF A DALANG

The school offers four majors: dance, music, pedalangan, and the

recently initiated crafts (krya or seni rupa). The dance department invari-
ably attracts the greatest number of students; music is the second largest,
and pedalangan the smallest. In 1986, for example, over a hundred danc-
ers, twenty-five musicians, and six dalang majors were enrolled. Pedalangan
is the smallest program; sometimes only one student is in a class level. Yet
growth is evident and on February 21, 1989, the first seven students were
awarded the post-B.A. degree of SSP.

I attribute the limited enrollment to the difficulty of the field com-
pared to other areas of study, as well as to economic and personal factors.
The major obstacle is the magnitude of the endeavor itself. Pedalangan is a
vast area: knowledge of music, dance, literature, religious philosophy,
and the ability to perform in an entertaining style within a ceremonial
context are all required. At the same time, the degree granted by the
academy is by no means the prerequisite for success as a practicing per-
former. The aspiring dalang at STSI will find that these factors test his
determination on a number of occasions. The dalang knows he must
achieve excellence in three demanding areas-drama, dance, and music
-whereas his friends in other majors will only need to master a more lim-
ited sphere. Students discover that it is hard to reach the quality expected
by the school and by society and may become discouraged. At this point,
it is appealing to switch to another major, probably dance or music,
where one’s skill is evident and one’s shortcomings are not so exposed.
The wide range of skill and the absolute mastery that is required of dalang
make it the most demanding course of study offered.

Thus I watched two friends switch to dance, two others move to
other universities, and still another switch to an arts academy in Yogy-
akarta, where she could finish more expeditiously. Female students stop to
marry, male students run out of funds, and many find a B.A. sufficient
and do not pursue the advanced degree. Some feel they do not have the
talent to succeed as a dalang or are intimidated by the significant cost of
purchasing gender and puppets (currently an expenditure of $1,700). I
have seen all these factors cause students to quit school or change to
another major.

The required twenty-five courses fall into the same three catego-
ries I defined as making up the curriculum at SMKI. The heart of the
Indonesian citizen, the head of an academic, and the skill required of an
artist-dalang: all are developed in the students. Some differences, how-
ever, are evident. The languages required are intensified (Kawi and the
complexities of Balinese are studied in addition to Indonesian and

English). Literature and dramaturgy are undertaken. Some courses that
were not available at SMKI are offered: a seminar in pedalangan, a recon-
struction class (resuscitating forms that are no longer practiced), and
classes in puppet making, iconography, and independent composition

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Sedana

(the art of making new stories). These classes focus specifically on the
dalang’s craft. They aim, I believe, at making the student capable of pre-
paring his own stories and puppets and fully understanding the field.

The focus on composition is highlighted in the final examination.
Each student is required to perform a new composition and write a thesis.

(At some later date I hope to write more extensively about the impact of
this creative project on young dalang.) My thesis topic, for example, was
wayang arja. I wrote a scholarly study of the genre for my B.A. and, for my
SSP degree, I developed and performed a new wayang aria. Not only was
the project intellectually strenuous, but it was financially taxing; the cost
of a final production may exceed the tuition fee. For my B.A. degree I
paid about $20 per year, but for my exam I paid $90. For my advanced
degree, I paid $75 per year but needed $200 for my final examination.
The village student, who pays no set fee and has no examination require-
ment, seems to have a bargain by comparison. Many students of the
schools go deeply into debt to cover the expenses of their exam.

In summary, then, the training at STSI is especially stimulating in
the way it gathers together high-level students and instructors well versed
in their particular areas of expertise. It trains students to become per-
formers who can create their own scripts and encourages them to do this
in written form. The course of study has emotional and financial burdens
that will weed out those who are not devoted to the path. The greatest test
is the performance/thesis which comes in the final year. On graduation,
the students step out into the world with an advanced academic credential
and an academic way of thinking. Their training should also have helped
them acquire skills that will launch them as practicing dalang, if they can
acquire performing equipment.

The establishment of pedalangan as a major at both the high school
(SMKI) and collegiate (STSI) levels is proof that this field has been ack-
nowledged as important by the Department of Education and Culture.
This is an appropriate way of validating this traditional knowledge in a
modern, academic setting. Aspiring dalang benefit from the availability of
the formal training in a number of ways. Students improve their abilities,
gain recognition from their communities and government, and learn oral
and written expository skills that are considered important for advance-
ment in a modern society. At the end of their education, students are
required to present their theses for consideration and perform before pub-
lic audiences, uniting the academic model and the traditional audience
test that all dalang must pass.

Conclusion

Now I shall summarize and compare the training found in tradi-
tion and the formal school structures. Traditional study creates an artist-

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EDUCATION OF A DALANG

performer who is concerned with performance in a village sphere where
entertainment and religion commingle; theory is not an explicit concern.
Study takes place in a dalang’s home or at his performances, where stu-
dents assist and observe. Students learn only a single genre, in a specific
local style, and follow the traits of one guru.15 Rites of passage and perfor-
mance will be observed, and the religious practices emphasized will be
conducive to a conservative attitude toward behavior and performance.
There is no set time for graduation, and practice sessions are at the con-
venience of the teacher. Balinese language is the medium of training.
There are no compulsory assignments, but the student will intuit what is
“compulsory” for his advancement and find ways to acquire the answers
from his teacher. In this environment, the student becomes the seeker
working actively to replicate the past. The successful student in a sense
“becomes” his teacher, practicing his guru’s style, getting his initial
bookings from the teacher, borrowing his equipment, and eventually
attracting audiences and students of his own. Ultimately, he will become
an artist-dalang, performing at ceremonies as his teacher did before him.

In the formal atmosphere of a school, the system is more academic
-here the aim is to create not only an artist-performer but also a scholar-
theorist. The classes take place in a formal institution, on a specific sched-
ule, and the different disciplines needed for mastery are assigned to differ-
ent hours, days, and years. Books and theoretical treatises are studied as
students learn many genres and styles from all over Bali under numerous
instructors. Outstanding professional dalang, chosen for their particular
expertise, dominate practical classes, while instructors who have more
formal academic credentials teach theory classes. Compared to traditional
methods, this system is more secular, since no ritual ceremonies are con-
ducted. Students, due to their village background, will know the rules of
sanctity-for example, they will not sit on, step over, or misuse the pup-
pets, gamelan, or screen; however, the more ritual aspects of wayang are not
highlighted in the academic setting and access to equipment is much eas-
ier. Specified times for the study of each subject, scheduled practices, and
Indonesian language as the medium of training are the norm. The stu-
dent receives compulsory assignments from instructors, rather than being
forced to frame questions. But, eventually, the students will be asked to
write out their own scripts and analyze what they perform in ways the vil-
lage dalang will never consider.

SMKI and STSI students must not only know how to perform but
also how to think, analyze, speak, and write about the genres studied and
their own performances. Discussions and papers for classes culminate in a
performance and a thesis analyzing this final show. Libraries and inde-
pendent field research become tools whereby students gain insight and
knowledge. During research, students talk not just to one or even many
teachers but to all who can discuss their subject.

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Sedana

The students from SMKI are half artist and half comparative his-
torian. They are invited to create their own material and explore new
ways to think about it. Much is brought to the student: the wealth of
Balinese pedalangan is tossed at their feet. They scramble, trying to catch
the riches and special aspects of each village style. They are eventually
tested, not for their religious understanding or ability to replicate their
teacher or even to please an audience, but to satisfy their examiners. In
their training they are challenged, perhaps, to consider their cultural heri-
tage and determine how the best parts can be amalgamated into their own
theories and the creations that they, as modern intellectual Indonesians,
can develop as performers and teachers for the future.

Postscript

What happens to these artists? The village dalang, as I have shown,
carries on his teacher’s work, adjusting it to the audiences present. He is
instrumental in perpetuating an ancestral tradition in a current village
context. What of the SMKI/STSI artist? After a degree has been earned,
some graduates take government positions, others become independent
artists, and most try to do both. Who would not rather face a puppet
screen at night than a desk in the morning? The dalang’s social and reli-
gious responsibility and the higher compensation he enjoys become added
incentives to choose performance over an office job. Although the gradu-
ates of formal training are few compared to the many village-trained
dalang, a preliminary analysis of their current occupations is informative.
Most graduates of pedalangan at SMKI and STSI teach: one at elementary
school, five at the high school level (three at SMKI itself), four at STSI.
Two work at the government radio station (RRI). Only a handful are
exclusively performing dalang.

Are these graduates destined to be primarily teachers? If they are,
an interesting side issue will be their relationship to the village dalang who
have been hired to teach them during the inaugural years of the pro-
grams. Before graduates of SMKI and STSI started teaching, the bulk of
the instructors were village artists. To this day, the best village dalang are
more skilled than we graduates with our official credentials. It seems
ironic, therefore, that village dalang who teach at the academy receive
smaller salaries and are not eligible for the research funds that we, their
students, may receive. Nor are these village artists always credited for
information given us during our research. Understandably, village dalang
become frustrated once they realize their subordinate position, and attri-
tion of these expert instructors from the schools back to the villages is
symptomatic of the problem that arises when the best artists, for lack of
academic credentials, are given a lower status. One of my teachers, for

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EDUCATION OF A DALANG

example, has often threatened to quit his job, saying that my peers and I
are already capable of running the department. Will the students of the
next generation be deprived of the master artists as teachers via this pol-
icy? This generation of educators will have to resolve these issues. 16

The traditional method of transmitting knowledge and expertise
has produced excellent performers. I hope the new endeavors of the
SMKI/STSI program will produce teachers who can elucidate the under-
lying philosophy and concepts of the performances. Dalang do not tradi-
tionally verbalize such descriptions of their activities, much less encode
them in written language. Great dalang, like I Nyoman Granyam from
Sukawati and Ida Bagus Baglug from Mas village, have taken their
knowledge with them to the grave, since no one recorded their methods or
ideas. In 1939-1941, when the noted scholar of things Balinese, C. Hooy-

kaas, left Bali, there were no lampahan/lakon written down (Hooykaas
1973, 4). Recently however, there have been two transcriptions and
translations of Balinese shadow plays: Ida Bagus Ngurah’s Bima Suarga,
translated by Larry Reed (1986), and I Nyoman Rajeg’s Dimba and
Dimbi, translated by Fredrik deBoer (1987). It is ironic that European and
American scholars have so far been the main recorders of information

about the dalang of the past. Formal schools like STSI, with their aim of
half practice and half theory, will change this situation, since they are
molding artists who are scholars too. Although the effort is young, it
seems to offer great promise of success. Thus the twentieth century may
well see a new type of Balinese dalang-one who can perform wayang and
explain it for the modern world as well.

NOTES

1. Recent research on Balinese wayang parwa is found in Zurbuchen
(1987), Hobart (1987), and Hinzler (1981). Grateful acknowledgment of helpful
suggestions for this article is owed to Fredrik deBoer, Larry Reed, and John
Emigh, who also provided editorial assistance.

2. Significant dalang of the present involved in this family-based training
include Ida Bagus Baglug (Mas), who trained his grandson, Ida Bagus Gria; I
Nyoman Granyam (Sukawati), who trained his son, I Nyoman Ganjreng; Ida
Bagus Ngurah (Buduk), who trained his son, Ida Bagus Puja; I Nyoman Rajeg
(Tunjuk-Tabanan), who trained his son, I Nyoman Sumandhi; and I Gusti
Pekak Dauh (Pacung), who trained his son, I Gusti Nr. Putra.

3. Some current dalang who were not born into lineages, but have learned
as anak murid, are I Ketut Kodi, I Ketut Darya, and myself.

4. The pamungkah, the protocol for starting a play, includes mantra, ges-
tures, opening the box, and putting the puppets in their proper position. The kay-
onan are the special dances and utilization of the tree of life puppet. Its image is an
abstract illustration of all nature, and its opening dances remind the dalang how

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Sedana

the universe, made of panca-maha-buta (the five elements), was generated out of

the void. The penyacah parwa is the prologue for a parwa (Mahabharata) story while
the purwa kanda (“original story”) is the prologue for a Ramayana story. Alas harum
(“perfumed forest”) is a vocal/instrumental musical passage which accompanies
the first entrance of the puppets-refined heroes with their clown servants. Candi
rebah (“tilting temple”) is the entrance music for the larger-eyed puppets who
represent more aggressive characters and often act as antagonists in the perfor-
mance. Rundah (“agitated”) is the musical accompaniment for a demon or witch
character, and mesem (“sad”) is music for a sorrowful scene for a refined charac-
ter. Bopong is the musical accompaniment and movement for an evil or energetic
character. Rebong (“flirtation”) is the music and associated gestures for a roman-
tic scene, while siat (“fight/battle”) is for a battle scene. Petangkilan (“approaching
a king”) is a meeting scene; bendu semara (“erotic disappointment”) is a sad scene
for a strong character. Angkat-angkatan is a traveling scene-one in which a char-
acter makes a journey. See Zurbuchen (1987) and Hobart (1987).

5. Important manuscripts include the Darma Pewayangan (Lore and Incan-
tations of the Wayang), available in Hooykaas (1973); the Niti Sastra (Obeying Lit-
erature) and Sarasamuscaya (Essence of Divine Knowledge), both discussing
proper human conduct; and the Kakawin, Hindu epics in Old Javanese.

6. The only exception I can recall is when he prepared his third son, I
Wayan Sira, to perform in a contest of child dalang (ages seven to eight) sponsored
by the Bali Puppet Foundation (Yayasan Pewayangan Bali). At this time he com-
posed everything, including actual phrases of dialogue. This, however, was a
very unrepresentative learning situation.

7. Among the offerings for puppets and musical instruments that the stu-
dent will learn about in the village system are bakaran (“burnt”), which refers to
the raw meat or live chicken sent to the dalang’s house prior to a performance. At
the beginning of the performance, two offerings are presented, one for gods, san-
tun pemungkah (“essence of opening”)-a coconut, egg, rice, flowers, money,
incense, and water-and the second for demons, segehan (“feeding”), including
palm and rice wines, water, rice, flowers, and incense. A betel leaf may also be
prepared for the opening, according to local requirements and the type of cere-
mony taking place. The offering will be much bigger for an exorcistic perfor-
mance-the so-called wayang sapuleger (“sweeping impurity”)-and the student
knows that such performances are only to be undertaken by a few dalang who are
sufficiently prepared in spiritual practice and of proper genealogical descent.

8. A pedanda is a priest from the highest caste (Brahmana) who is madwi-
jati (reborn) via appropriate offerings. A mangku is a priest, from any caste, who is
honored by appropriate offerings. Each temple has a mangku. In my village,
Tegallingah, there are five mangku and one pedanda.

9. Founded in 1962-1963, Konservatori Karawitan Indonesia

(KOKAR), the Indonesian Conservatory of Traditional Music, chiefly stressed
Balinese performing arts but included Javanese music and dance in the curricu-
lum. In 1973-1974, KOKAR’s name was changed to SMKI (Sekolah Menegah
Karawitan Indonesia, the Indonesian High School of Traditional Music) and a
Jurusan pedalangan (pedalangan major) was established. STSI (Sekokah Tinggi Seni

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EDUCATION OF A DALANG

Indonesia), the Indonesian Advanced School of Art, is the most recent name of
ASTI (Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia), the Indonesian Academy of Dance and
Related Arts.

10. Ni Ketut Trijata was the first female dalang, but other female students
took KOKAR classes as well. Ni Komang Sekar Marhaeni was the first woman
to receive her dalang degree from STSI. Soon women from outside the schools
were performing too, including Ni Ketut Nondri, the widow of I Ketut Madra, a
major dalang in the 1970-1978 period.

11. On a few projects, students from different levels do cooperate, as hap-
pened for productions of Wayang Wong Kumbakarna Lina (presented on the school
anniversary), Wayang Calonarang (presented in Yogyakarta), and Wayang Cupak
(presented in conjunction with field study injembrana in Bali).

12. SMKI does not conduct any religious rites for students. I believe
some ceremony could be introduced, however, since students require this purifi-
cation process both for their own spiritual development and to understand the
proper use of equipment. This need not be the major purification ceremony
(mawinten ageng); the minor ceremony (mawinten bunga) would suffice.

13. Wayang Cupak tells the story of how the greedy brother Cupak is foiled
in his attempts to cheat his sibling out of his inheritance. Tantri tells the story of a
woman, Ni Diah Tantri, who outwits a Casanova-like king, Iswaryadala, by tell-
ing him animal stories through the night. Wayang arja is a genre which uses opera-

style singing and stories about Prince Panji. Calonarang is an exorcistic form
which tells of the defeat of the witch Calonarang. Lubdaka is a story about a
hunter who is treed by a tiger and spends the magical purification night of Siwa
in the forest-where he encounters and meditates with the god Siwa himself.
Sutasoma concerns a king who becomes a hermit.

14. Hence they have puppets and musical instruments in the family.
15. Most students will learn how to perform the most popular genre, way-

ang parwa.

16. Compared to Surakarta and Yogyakarta, where the first schools were
established in the 1920s (Van Groenendael 1985, 30), the availability of formal
pedalangan education in Bali has arrived late.

REFERENCES

Groenendael, Van, Victoria M. Clara. 1985.
The Dalang Behind the Wayang. Dordrecht: Foris Publications.

Hinzler, H.I.R. 1981.

Bima Swarga in Balinese Wayang. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijke
Instituut voor Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde 90. The Hague: Martinus
Nijhoff.

Hobart, Angela. 1987.
Dancing Shadows of Bali. London: KPI Limited.

Hooykaas, C. 1973.

Kama and Kala. Amsterdam and London: North Holland Publishing
Company.

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100 Sedana

Mulyono Ir, Sri. 1978.
WayangAsal Usul Filsafat dan Masa Depannya. Jakarta: Gunung Agung.

Ngurah, Ida Bagus. 1986.
Bima Suarga. Translated by C. L. Reed. Asian Theatre Journal 3(1): 1-33.

Rajeg, I Nyoman. 1987.
Dimba and Dimbi. Translated by Fredrik deBoer. Asian Theatre Journal
4(1):76-107.

Sedana, I Nyoman. 1986.

“Wayang Arja Di Dusun Bona Kelod Gianyar.” B.A. thesis. Denpasar:
Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia.

Sugriwa, I Gusti Bagus. 1963.

Ilmu Pewayangan/Pedalangan. Denpasar: Konservatori Karawitan Indo-
nesia.

Zurbuchen, Mary. 1987.

Language of Balinese Shadow Theatre. Princeton: Princeton University
Press.

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• Contents

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• Issue Table of Contents

Asian Theatre Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1, Spring, 1993
Front Matter
From the Editor
Play
Pan Jinlian: The Story of One Woman and Four Men-A New Sichuan Opera [pp. 1 – 48]
A Wrinkle in Time: The Shadow Puppet Theatre of Banyumas (West Central Java) [pp. 49 – 80]
The Education of a Balinese Dalang [pp. 81 – 100]
Report
The Masking and Unmasking of the Yu Theatre Ensemble [pp. 101 – 114]
Book Reviews
untitled [pp. 115 – 118]
untitled [pp. 118 – 119]
untitled [pp. 119 – 121]
untitled [pp. 121 – 123]
Back Matter