Podcasts

Podcasts are audio files in mp3 format. Click on the link to play in your browser with your default mp3 player.

Being a dhalang

Matthew Isaac Cohen talks about his experiences as a dhalang

In Java a dhalang is a master performer – responsible for bringing the puppets to life with movements and voices as well as providing sound effects, singing and directing the gamelan orchestra.

This is the second in a series of three podcasts with Dr Matthew Isaac Cohen, who is a practising dhalang, and this time I asked him to tell me a little about what being a dhalang actually involves.

Play podcast
Size 18.4mb
playing time 20 minutes 10 seconds

The accompanying music is taken from a workshop performance of 'On Baile's Strand' a wayang realisation of the play by W B Yeats, performed by Matthew Isaac Cohen, and musicians from Cirebon, at the Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia, Bandung on 8th July 2004. See also a short video extract from this performance.

An introduction to wayang

Listen to the first of this series of podcasts in which Matthew Isaac Cohen introduces different types of wayang, the stories used and wayang in Java today with some fascinating insights. An introduction to wayang

Wayang in Cirebon

The third in this series of podcasts will appear shortly in which Matthew Isaac Cohen talks about wayang in Cirebon.