Naga Mas

Traditional and new gamelan music, wayang, dance and theatre

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Naga Mas (Golden Dragon) is a combined arts group, specialising in the performance traditions of Indonesia.

The group was founded in 1991 and plays on a gamelan made by Pak Suhirjan in Yogyakarta (Central Java) and owned by the Glasgow City Council.

The instruments themselves are named Spirit of Hope and are currently housed in the Tramway, Glasgow's première arts centre.

Naga Mas functions as a forum to integrate performance with education, community access and research.

The group develops creative, intercultural and collaborative new work while drawing deeply on the traditional arts of Central and West Java and Bali.

Naga Mas has worked closely with visiting artists from Java and Bali and regularly presents musical concerts as well as innovative productions of wayang kulit (shadow puppet theatre) topeng (mask dance), dance-drama and related forms of theatre.

Naga Mas offers workshops covering an introduction to gamelan for adults and children, shadow puppetry, dance and gamelan for special needs.

 

Notable performances

Smaradahana:
The Burning of Love

A telling of the Hindu myth of the burning of Kama with Cirebonese shadow puppets and contemporary and traditional dance.

Puppetry by Matthew Isaac Cohen, dance choreographed by Ekadamayanti, traditional music and new compositions by Jon Keliehor and J. Simon van der Walt.

Premièred at the Indonesia Live Festival, Cambridgeshire, 2004.

Topeng Dances of Java and Bali

Classical mask dance by master artist I Nyoman Wenten accompanied in both Javanese and Balinese musical styles by Naga Mas. Glasgow, 2003.

Sendratari Wayang:
Anoman, The Envoy

An episode from the Ramayana performed with shadow puppets and wayang wong actor-dancers.

Directed by Joko Susilo and Matthew Isaac Cohen for the Dusshera celebrations of Glasgow and Edinburgh, 2002.

Wayang Cuchulain

A shadow spectacle featuring a full gamelan and ten puppeteers, actors, dancers and comedians, based upon the Celtic epic of Cuchulain and the experimental performance style of wayang sandosa.

Directed by Joko Susilo and Matthew Isaac Cohen. Performed at the West End Festival, Glasgow 2002.

Contact

Jon Kelihor - Convener
Email: info@nagamas.co.uk
Web: www.nagamas.co.uk

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