The fourth device that a dalang uses to cue his
musicians is by singing a line or phrase. Similar to the technique often
practised in Western musical theatre when the actor signals the musical
director by saying a particular word or phrase, a dalang simply starts by
singing a line after which the musicians would promptly follow. For example,
when a dalang wishes to begin the Rebong love scene, he may sing, ‘Fragrant
aroma permeates the air . . . (Miyik ngalub malimpugan . . .).’ Other musical
scenes that require a sung phrase to begin them include the Tampak Silir unison
vocal and instrumental, Angkat-angkatan travelling scene, Peparikan seductive
scene and the Genjekan drunken scene.
In terms of musical drama or narration, a dalang’s cue
for his musicians to collaborate with him is a sine qua non. Based on
interactivity between a dalang’s vocal art and instrumental music which
complement the narration, the Wayang performance employs three divergent types
of musical drama:
- Tandak (tetandakan, plural) is the vocal art that embellishes the melody and faithfully follows the pitch and tone of the instrumental music. This type of vocal art is always used for entrance scenes, sad scenes and love scenes. For example, tandak alas harum is used for the appearance of refined characters. Tandak candi rebah is for the arrival of demonic characters. Tandak mesem is for a sad scene of refined characters with small eyes; tandak rundah is for sad scenes of demonic characters with sharp fangs; and tandak bendu semara is for sad scenes of strong/hard characters with big oval or round eyes.
- Tampak Silir is vocal/instrumental music where melody, pitch and tone match. In the first meeting scene, Tampak Silir is usually sung by the servant or precedes the dialogue, narrating the features of each character who is about to speak. The lyric is usually a brief, flamboyant description about a great king, a resilient hero, a holy sage, a gorgeouspalace or a prosperous country.
- Bebaturan are ornamental vocal arts, which are melodically free from, and far more elaborate than, the instrumental music. Unlike the tandak, in which the instrumental music is dominant, the vocal element in Bebaturan always dominates the ostinato of the instrumental pieces. This vocal type is used in the travelling scenes and some fighting scenes. The lyrics describe the situation or the mood of a specific character.
It is worth noting these musical processes as it
indicates the detail and complexity of the relationship between the dalang and
the orchestra that is at the heart of a performance. It is also worth
remembering that although all know the structure every performance, the dalang
is constantly improvising, adding comments and adapting the material so the
dynamic of one performance and another, even of the same basic story by the
same dalang, will be markedly different. These examples also demonstrate the
enormous precise and technical detail required by the dalang. The local
audience will be well aware of how the dalang is manipulating the techniques
and materials and it will affect their response as the performance unfolds.
Finally, there is a cue that prompts the musicians to
play a musical piece that is purely artistic, structural and/or ritualistic,
without any association with dramatic characters. An example of this is the
musical overture, which always begins a Wayang performance. When a dalang
dedicates an opening offering, santun pamungkah, to God and then serves the
segehan offering to the lower spirit in order to obtain spiritual support, the
action serves as a cue for the musicians – a signal for them to get ready to
play the piece. It is also a signal for the audience that the show will now
begin and the audience do indeed become more attentive in anticipation of what
will follow.
The stories used in Wayang come from various sources,
and the Wayang genre indicates the name of the source. Wayang Ramayana clearly
indicates the narrative source as does Wayang Parwa (Mahabharata), etc. These
two major sources are known in translation, in the Javanese poetry kakawin, and
are in many ways an adaptation, rather than the original Sanskrit. Various
other sources exist also, some in verse, some in prose and some in a
combination of the two. The other source stories originally come from India,
Indonesia or are indigenous to Bali.
Once the story has been chosen and the ideas
formulated for how the dalang will approach its telling, the next task is to
select specific puppets. Sometimes various puppets represent the same character
according to the situation or mood. These variations are known as wanda and
determine in many ways the style/tone of the storytelling. Sometimes the
differences are simple, such as before and after ascending the throne for a
prince: one with a kingly headdress and one with a simpler version. The most
interesting example is with the character Gatutkaca, the son of the Pandawa
hero, Bima; he has five wanda (the most of any character) that show specific
aspects of his history. First, he is a baby puppet, Jabang Tatuka. Second, he
appears encrusted with dirt, steel and iron for an episode where he is
literally forged into a superhuman to challenge the monster Naga Pracono.
Third, a puppet represents him in his customary form as a handsome prince.
Fourth, he is a huge cloud-monster for the scene where he challenges Karna, the
commander-in-chief of the Korawa army in a battle. Finally, he is featured as
an abject creature when his armour is peeled away from his body. In recent
years, the use of wanda in the performance has increased in the way that new
puppets are constructed to represent different stages of a character, motivated
by the search for more flexibility in puppet manipulation. New wanda are
created to provide more complex movements, especially for comic characters and
animals.
A dalang’s puppet collection (its size and range) does
not completely limit which stories he can tell, as it is possible to substitute
one character for another. The governing principle of this kind of substitution
is that the borrowed puppet must suit the general type that is required by the
play. A refined knight may represent another refined hero, a refined lady can
represent another refined queen and an insignificant demon may represent
another lesser-known ogre. A narrow-eyed soldier can represent any member of
the army of the protagonists’ group used on the right side of the screen and a
round-eyed soldier can represent any army’s member from the antagonists’ group
at the left side. The names may be changed, as long as the puppet type is
correct. This also allows the dalang to create new stories or heavily modify
existing stories. As can be seen in the parallel discussion about Topeng, there
is more ability to innovate than at first seems possible.
Another task for the dalang is constructing his
puppets; although some dalang commission others to build their puppets, most
create them themselves. Constructing and manipulating puppets are especially
important
parts of a dalang’s ability to introduce creativity
into his presentation today. Traditional puppets are often felt to limit
development of a more expressive vocabulary of movements, tetikasan. In an
outburst of creativity in recent years, dalang have created new puppets with
expanded potential for movement. Additional joints are added in the neck, upper
arms, waist, upper thighs and knees. Manipulatable hindquarters, wings, trunks
and ears have been added to animal puppets. In addition to the traditional
strings and sticks, added means of controls have been explored by using rubber
bands, velcro, cables and even batteries. Characters that lend themselves to
the greatest degree of experimentation are demonic and animal characters, as these
characters are expected to move more extensively and with more agility than
human beings. A fairly recently created genre, Wayang Tantri,
first performed in the early 1980s, is a good example
of how this can be used to innovate. It is basically a fairy tale that features
a smart girl, Tantri, who tells 1,001 stories within stories about clever
animals she works with in order to prevent the king from seducing her.
Completely new styles of puppets have been developed for these stories, often
influenced by ideas from overseas. Unlike a traditional puppet, where a single
stick fuses legs, upper body and head, in these puppets the tip of the main
body stick is attached to the puppet’s temple and loosely bonded to the foot,
freeing the body and head. This allows the dalang to manipulate the puppet in
several ways; moving its foot up and down affects the body, hip and head;
pulling a string attached to the head allows for head movements; pulling the
string attached to the foot creates kicks; pulling the string attached to the
jaw makes the puppet appear to speak. It may be done section by section or
simultaneously depending on the desired effect. Many of the animals’ ears,
wings, rumps, heads and body parts can move. Other new puppet creations have
mushroomed in the last 20 years, helping to feed elements of modernity and
energy, especially within new stories or genres. Some dalang have created
puppets that have also expanded the traditional method of manipulation. These
include a puppet riding a bicycle manipulated by batteries, string, cable and
rods; a puppet that can be transformed from a human to a witch by pulling a
string and another by turning the three-dimensional body; and corpse carriers
with moving hands and feet. As in so much Balinese art, little resistance to
change exists as long as it sits side by side with tradition and does not
attempt to replace it. The experimentation is based mainly in new genres and
the dalang perform the traditional work one night and the experimental another.
This model of change and preservation is at the heart of the extraordinary
dynamic behind Balinese performance. However, in the villages, the more
traditional forms of presentation are almost always preferred. The only real
exception to this is one young dalang who has recently become much sought after
and includes a number of Westernised technical effects and innovative and
humorous approaches to storytelling. One of his productions is looked at in
detail later in this chapter.
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