Date: Mon, 29 May 2006 16:30:28 -0500
To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Ecology/Wayang of the Ten Sacred Thing


Thanks, Kathy, for your interesting post.

As for Made Sidia and his Dad, I know them well,  having toured with 
Made as the  only western puppeteer in a multimedia show "Visible 
Religion", a retelling of Dante's Inferno via Bhima Swarga, with music 
by Gamelan Pacifica, Tony Prabowo and Jarred Powell. Kent Deveraux was 
the producer/director, and we toured to seattle, Mn, Steppenwolf , 
Chicago.

I wasn't aware that the germ of the idea for Wayang Dasanamakerta (AKA 
wayang skateboard) came from a show his father had developed. Made's 
Dad is one of the heaviest, most formidable puppeteers and artists I 
have ever met. Anyone going to Bali should try and see him perform. It 
is interesting that western puppetry (warning, generalization) seems to 
gravitate towards children's entertainment, light stories, humor, and 
comedy - Indonesian puppetry utilizes humor, more often than not, to 
give the audience a break from unremittingly dark, unflinching and 
violent tragedies.

Puppetry is the ideal medium, at least in Bali, to help transform and 
heal the wounds from the 12 Oct terrorist attack. I think the key is 
that Indonesian puppetry unabashedly attempts to be transformative and 
cathartic in the spiritual realm. And why shouldn't it? A prerequisite 
of  this art form is to bring dead objects to life. It is the 
puppeteer's calling to play God, and Indonesian puppeteers take this 
sacred responsibility VERY seriously, as do their audiences. 
(Indonesia's the only country where the sentence "I'm a puppeteer" 
might actually work as a pick-up line!)

And I doubt an Indonesian LIST for dalang would be scandalized by posts 
on Global Warming, gun control, Darfur, Iraq etc.... Don't puppeteers 
want to know what other puppeteers are thinking as far as the burning 
issues of the day? and how they might integrate these ideas into their 
performances? And don't you want puppetry to be taken seriously as an 
art form? Maybe it doesn't matter if you never improvise or adjust your 
performances to local audiences, but I do. If someone can ask help on a 
puppet show about physical fitness, surely we can hash out ideas, 
jokes, bits, etc... on the theme of global warming. Yep, we should all 
be in the business of saving the world. Got anything better to do?

You don't mention that much of the big screen technology used for 
"Wayang Skateboard" comes from Larry Reed's innovations. For those who 
don't know, Larry studied wayang in Bali and became quite accomplished. 
He then developed "shadowlight" theater, which utilized arc lights and 
bigger-than-life puppets. It is nice when cross-cultural collaboration 
has a payoff on both ends. Nice little feedback loop they've got going 
between S.F. and Bali.

Made Sidia is really the complete puppeteer and artist. The traditional 
art form is in his blood and bones, but he is also a modern artist who 
can connect with all generations  of Balinese society as well as a 
world audience. You know, a lot of stars have to line up in order for 
an artist on the scale of a Picasso or an Armstrong, a Duse or a Callas 
to emerge.  But I wouldn't bet against Made Sidia. He understands the 
artist's role socially, politically, and spiritually. He's a humble 
giant.

A side story:

My wife is Bali-born and a doctor, and she was put in charge of the  
long-term care of the Indonesian bomb victims. We had a seminar at our 
home and many of the victims were in attendance. While waiting for 
other patients and doctors to arrive, I put a "Road Runner" cartoon  
DVD on the TV. I went off to do something and came back, and the 
patients were on the floor laughing their asses off at the hapless Wyle 
E. Coyote. I was horrified, initially, when it dawned on me that they 
were laughing at the fact that Wyle E. Coyote kept getting blown up in 
one way or another, only to miraculously be healed and concoct another 
hair-brained scheme. I tried to change the DVD,  but they shouted and 
waved me away.

Catharsis comes where and when you least expect it.

Cheers,
DMCG


On May 29, 2006, at 12:24 PM, Kathy Foley wrote:

> Anyone interested in reading more on I Made Sidia's Wayang
> Dasanamakerta (AKA wayang skateboard) might look for Asian Theatre
> Journal 22, 1 "Theatre in a Time of Terrorism: Renewing Natural
> Harmony after the Bali Bombing via Wayang Kontemporer"  by I Nyoman
> Sedana which I edited (it is available on the web through JSTOR and
> other academic journal data bases.
>
> The beginning point for the performance was initiated long before the
> Bali bomb by Sidia's dad who is one of the most important puppeteers
> of the older generation.  While at a conference in Europe a number of
> years ago Sidja conceived of a puppet show which would focus on the
> ecological balance of the world as a core issue--a response to the
> overbuilding of the tourist industry then rampant on Bali and some of
> the corruption that allowed the rich to bulldoze tradition and the
> poor in the process.  So Sidja conceived of a puppet genre that would
> deal with the ten sacred things from plants to animals to the human
> and divine that had to harmonize for the ecology of life and spirit
> to balance.  It is not survival of the fittest but the responsibility
> of the steward that Sidja emphasized.
>
> Sidia, his son, recycled this idea when he was invited to do some
> shows in the schools and at Kuta as part of a program to relieve
> post-tramatic stress after the bombing in 2002.  It is interesting
> that instead of focusing on anger and "who did what to whom?" that
> Sidia asked people to look at the big picture.  "What is out of whack
> that this terrorism happens?" was the question he chose to address.
>
> For him ecological degradation, religious turf wars, political finger
> pointing that pit people against each other were all part of a common
> problem--loss of balance between these ten elements that make up the
> cosmos.  He thought puppetry could help people cut through the mess
> and see what was happening because in the little world we can see the
> great world clearly and whole.
>
>   If Sidia  had his way the headline would be "Puppet Shows Save the
> World." That might be an nice act  for all puppeteers to try to
> follow.
>
> -- 
> Kathy Foley
> Professor, Theatre Arts
> Editor, Asian Theatre Journal
> J-15 Theatre Arts
> 1156 High St.
> Santa Cruz, CA 95064
>   tel. (831) 459-4189
> fax (831) 459-3552
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