Ki Purbo Asmoro
"Dhalang Banjaran"
(UGM professor, May 2007)
"Dhalang Komplit"*
(Prof. I.M. Harjito, Wesleyan University, USA)
Wayang Golek Purwa Gaya Solo!
A NEW and EXCITING project that Ki Purbo Asmoro is working on! As of 17 November 2008, Ki Purbo Asmoro started working on a new project that he suddenly got the inspiration for--to create a Solonese wayang golek tradition. He has ordered a full set of wayang golek, made to his explicit instructions, and is beginning to design iringan and sulukan that will be appropriate. He hopes to debut his first performance sometime in 2009. News on how the project is progressing will be posted here.
Purbo Asmoro maintains a demanding performing schedule across East Java, Central Java, Jakarta, as well as occasionally on other islands in Indonesia such as Sumatra, Kalimantan and Batam. He performs equally comfortably for elite gatherings at universities, for massive, overflowing audiences in public squares; in theaters, private homes, or for radio and television stations across Java. Despite his active performing life, each morning Purbo Asmoro can still be found teaching his studio classes in the pedhalangan department of ISI (the Institute of Arts in Surakarta).
Click on the links below for more specific information concerning the varied aspects of Ki Purbo Asmoro's professional life:
Purbo Asmoro in his role as a studio professor at ISI (link coming Dec 2008)
Purbo Asmoro's activities within the Solonese dhalang community
Purbo Asmoro's performing repertoire
a reflection by Purbo Asmoro, April 2006:
“Beautiful poetry, profound philosophy, impressive movements, dramatic characterizations, extensive knowledge of gendhing and suluk, clever solutions to conflicts in the story—you know what? None of it means anything if a dhalang doesn’t reach his audience. I consider my performance a failure if in the end I don’t speak to my audience. Now that doesn’t mean I will go to all ends to humor the spectators—that’s different. But I strive, number one, to communicate with my audience, and reach them in a way that makes a difference in their lives, while still retaining my own integrity as a performer. That is nowhere near as easy as it may sound, and involves as many different approaches as there are audiences.”
(jotted down by K. Emerson during a private communication and subsequently translated)
"...wajah dalang menjadi milik wayang..."
While on tour in the USA, Purbo Asmoro was asked by Jody Diamond, member of gamelan Manunggal Rasa, "don't you ever want to turn around and see the people watching you and what's going on behind you?" And Ki Purbo replied,
"Once a wayang begins, the dhalang's face belongs to the characters in the wayang [wajah dalang menjadi milik wayang...] and to no one else, not even to himself." A number of participants in the tour witnessed his answer around the dinner table and were struck by the thought he posed.
Perhaps the photos below reflect how this statement plays out in his performances:
(photos by Hananta)
Purbo Asmoro is particularly well-known for performing traditional wayang stories in a classically-based yet modern, interpretative style known as "garapan". In this style he employs flashbacks, dream sequences, and reflective character portraits, crafting the story tightly around a central conflict or theme. Purbo Asmoro is frequently requested to perform "banjaran" - a form which explores the life story of a particular wayang character, focusing on the forces and key events that have shaped his or her personality and fate.
*dhalang are often referred to as being "dhalang catur" (literary), "dhalang sabet" (virtuosic with manipulation of the puppets), "dhalang gendhing" (talented with the songs and musical accompaniment), and a variety of other labels. "Komplit" would refer to the idea that this dhalang has a considerable amount of every skill necessary to a dhalang, and in balanced proportion.
