UKGN Podcast

Wayang in Cirebon

with Matthew Isaac Cohen

'Cirebon is neither Sundanese nor Javanese but instead is unique'

Cirebon is a historic royal city on the north coast of Java.

Dhalang Matthew Isaac Cohen trained in both Solo (Central Java) and Cirebon and, in this podcast, he talks about the differences between Solonese and Cirebonese wayang, including performance practice, training and the puppets themselves.

(Right Bagong – one of the nine clown servants featured in Cirebonese wayang kulit)

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Size 23.8 mb
playing time 25 minutes 58 seconds

The music in the podcast is further short extracts 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.

This is the third in a series of three podcasts on wayang by Dr Matthew Isaac Cohen.

An introduction to wayang

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

Being a dhalang

A dhalang is a master performer – responsible for bringing the puppets to life with movements and voices, sound effects, singing and directing the gamelan orchestra and in this podcast Matthew Isaac Cohen talks a little about what this actually involves.
Being a dhalang

Web sites on Cirebon

Cirebon Arts The artistic traditions of Cirebon, Indonesia

Includes 'Wayang Kulit in Cirebon' a further article by Matthew Isaac Cohen available in pdf format. (Seleh Notes Vol 9 Nos 1 & 2).

Gamelan Cirebon The arts and culture of Cirebon, a region on the island of Java

Podcasts

See also