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ArtConnect: The IFA Magazine, Volume 6, Number 1
and tea, and then present him with a
cane. Then the boy is left in the care of
the dalang for as many years as it takes.
The novice dalang will first begin to
learn the story. And somehow the story
becomes most important in the
training of the dalang rather than in the
actual performance. He will have to
learn the Cerita Pokok or what is called
the trunk story of the Wayang
tradition, which is the Hikayat
Maharaja Wana, everything from the
birth of Rama and the penance of
Ravana right up to the exile. Stories
don’t end because new stories are
created. The novice then learns the
aspects of narration, voice, movement
and music (the dalang conducts the
entire orchestra). Improvisation is
hugely important in a Wayang
performance. The Wayang has a
stylised beginning that lasts for about
twenty minutes, followed by the
consecration of the stage and the
introduction of the tree of life, Pohon
Beringin, which brings you back to
your point of origin. Then there is the
introduction of the characters,
beginning with the sons of Rama.
The story is narrated for about two
hours and after that the dalang is in
what they call an elevated state, naik
nafsu; basically your lust, your desires,
are heightened. And then the dalang
takes the story anywhere he wants. The
music becomes very interesting—there
could be Bollywood songs, and other
popular songs—until the end of the
performance in which the dalang pulls
back the story and consecrates the stage
in the final act. During those two
hours, literally anything can happen for
the dalang and for the audience; the
audience sometimes gets into a state of
trance and ecstasy and they dance, so
that it becomes a highly communal
occasion. In fact, in the Kelantan
setting, if you perform the traditional
story of the Ramayana, audiences
are not enticed. The virtue of a
dalang is in his ability to lift off stories
from the original trunk, the Cerita
Pokok, and perform what are called
branch stories, Cerita Ranting. There is
a very interesting relationship between
the individuality of the dalang and the
kind of stories he performs, the
episodes that he selects and so on.
In the course of training, the elder
dalang will come to identify what are
the salient and most powerful aspects
of the younger dalang’s personality. He
will then ascribe to him what is called a
sacred puppet. If you are of the spirit of
Rama you will be bequeathed a sacred
or ritualised puppet of Rama, and
similarly if you are of the spirit of