Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 10:49:46 -0700 To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org From: Kathy Foley <kfoley-AT-ucsc.edu> Subject: [Puptcrit] female dalang There have always been women dalang in the families of the north coast--there wayang and mask dance and ronggeng (female courtesan dance) done by either a male impersonator or a female) have been intertwined (supposedly since the wali who converted the island to islam in the 16th C invented these sister arts. Women were more often asked to do dance or ronggeng than wayang, but they did wayang as well (sometimes with interludes where they got up and did ronggeng sequences). When I was first in Sunda in the late 1970s where wayang was more all male, there was one female dalang who had started out a singer but become a dalang and was said to be lesbian (living with her troupe sinden). I was considered an odd bird as I was a femle studying wayang golek. Anna Ingleby (sp?) in England does Wayang Golek too. Some other Sundanese girls were active in the l980s--but most haven't had a full career. Central Java had female dalang--though not too many. Nancy Cooper's thesis from the U Hawaii is about one. Bali was said to be all male prior to 1979 when I Nyoman Sumandhi taught me and a few other females in the US wayang in the summer of 1974, had me perform and went home to train and encourage the first female dalang in Bali, Nondri and others started performing at this time, there were all Indonesia female dalang events and every wayang area would send women--usually girls from the art schools coming from dalang families. Not many of them have continued with full professional careers--as with dancers and ronggeng, the tendency is to stop with marriage (late nights, large groups of male musicians, etc). Vocal technique is predicated (as with topeng) on a male voice, so wayang is not going to be a natural for the female though mony can do it if encouraged. In the current dalang class in Bali their is a woman TV personality--I haven't seen her perform. So there are not loads of puppeteers, but mask dance, wayang wong (human puppetry), etc. are all part of the same family and women have been active both in the past and in the present, but they are not always doing the puppets though they are capable. best, Kathy Foley -- 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) 459-5359 _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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