Yielding to the Dreamy Tug of Ancient Shadows - Examining the Collision of Traditional and Modern Practices in Africa

LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/featured_articles/001018wednesday.html

Location: Surabaya, Indonesia; puppet shows are popular and well liked

Quote: "Perhaps it was their passion for the puppetry or their respect for the acclaimed puppet master, Anon Suroto, that kept them from going home."

"The shows portray human nature as it really is. The puppets are shadows of human beings."

Anecdote: Mr. Suroto was a master puppeteer. He had 6 children and only one of them, the youngest, could inherit his talent. Bayuaji was becoming as good as his father and his father was proud he could share this talent with at least one of his sons. Bayuaji says the most difficult part of puppetry is learning the characters voices. It takes a lot of practice and concentration, he said, after staying up hours on end. Many more puppeteers are up and coming on their own as well.

Vocab:

plausible- pleasing or persuasive

emeritus- retired from position

penchant- habitual attraction to an activity or thing

Wayang Kulit- A Shadow theatre

Wayang Golek- Uses Rod Puppets

dalang- the puppeteer

Storyline: People travel to see master puppeteers perform, for hours, of an epic story or folk tale. They all find it interesting and will stay awake for the whole performance, even when they have to work the next morning.Puppeteers are well supported by the community and surrounding areas and people love to watch them.

-The shows often run for 12 hours without a break

The stories are largely drawn from two Hindu mythological epics, The Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

Beyond: http://www.civilization.ca/educat/oracle/modules/cnebel/page01_e.html

-Dina, Melissa, Jason