PWAssignment3


 * THE EDUCATION OF A BALINESE DALANG**. By I Nyoman Sedama. __Asian Theatre Journal__, Spring 1993. pp. 81-100

I Nyoman Sedama is an instructor at STSI-Denpasar, one of the first students to receive an advanced degree of SSP in pendalangan from ASTI/STSI, currently a M.A. student in the Theatre, Speech, and Dance Department of Brown University, and has taught at UC Santa Cruz. He is a prolific author whose breadth of experience runs deep, as his most notable characteristic is that he is a //dalang// himself. His descriptions of the education it takes to become a //dalang// are not only from extensive study on the matter and years of teaching material, but from the deep, lasting knowledge that comes from firsthand experience. It is important to take into account the fact that he did not even grow up in a dalang family himself.

Sedama begins his exposition by describing to us how he went about his performance technique in a traditional way. He then explains how a beginner would go about approaching the basic framework of a performance with its songs, standard scenes, speeches, and set movements. He informs us of his breadth of experience in both formal, institutional settings and informal, village settings. The organization of his essay is suberb and easy to understand. He tells us that the performer must master //pendalangan//, which is the lore, technique, and religious-philosophical knowledge of puppetry. The success of a dalang in storytelling depends on his personal variation, creativity, and skill. Artistic techniques build upon each other with experience to create a strong, confident performance that will keep the audience intrigued and emotionally aroused.

The author then goes on to describe a //dalang// he has personal experience with and was trained by named I Made Sidja. This characterizes the informal part of his study by simply conversing with different //dalangs// and learning their ways firsthand. This helps the audience to understand exactly how the process of education of a //dalang// takes place by showing us rather than telling us what is happening. We are informed that the outcome of each of his lessons will depend on the pupil’s openness to learn and the questions he asks according to the author, his information is given out in a limited amount, and he emphasizes improvement harshly with adherence to values (duty to perform regardless of monetary compensation). The adherence to values such as maintaining purity is also discussed and how his family had to obtain water from thirty-five sources, for example.

I Nyoman Sedama also had institutionalized, formal education that he realized strengthened another facet of his strengths in performing, teaching, and practicing //wayang//. He describes his education in SKMI (Balinese High School), his major in //pendalangan//, and how the courses he took benefited him. He did however note that that examinations and graduations are formalized, while religious ceremonies and ritual ceremonies are de-emphasized. In his education at STSI, the only college in Bali where //pendalangan// can be undertaken for academic credential, he had a different experience. Many of the students are already very dedicated to the craft and because of this reason make the school a rewarding environment. The environment aimed not only to create an artist-performer, as in traditional style, but also a theorist.

In my opinion, the author does well in organizing his exposition around informal and formal ways to understand dalang. He is an excellent author who can truly relate to the craft of //wayang// in a way many people never master. I personally believe that I have gained a truer insight into Indonesian shadow puppetry simply by reading his article.