Looking back at 2019!

2019 was quite a year, filled with lots of collaborations with Javanese musicians, dancers, and puppeteers. In February, we supported NAFA’s wayang workshop with dhalang [shadow puppeteer] Ki Aneng from Yogyakarta (Photos by Heiting Wong):

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In July we had a week of workshops and a final klenengan with guest musicians and instructors Mas Riyadi and Mbak Lestari:

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We accompanying the dancers from the Pakualaman Palace alongside their master musicians as part of Lintas Nusantara 2019 (photos by Haiqal Tahir):

Last but not least, we also were honored to play with Mas Bayu Purnama, accompanying dhalang Ki Catur Benyek Kuncoro wayang at the launch of Wayang and its Doubles, a new book by Dr Jan Mrazek, our ensemble’s founder (photos by Haiqal Tahir):

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Watch our livestream of the event here (admittedly much less sophisticated than the streams you get of wayang in Java!):

Coming up: Lintas Nusantara 2017

Once again, we’re working together with Guntur Mataram Dance Company to accompany their Yogyanese dances at Lintas Nusantara! This year, it’s Beksan Lawung and Sekar Pudyastiuti.

Besides the ever familiar zapin traditional dance genre as well as courtly dances from Yogyakarta, this year’s Lintas Nusantara will present the pride of Bugis performance arts – rarely witnessed out of Indonesia, brought to the audience by maestros from Sulawesi.

Performance Details:

Venue: Malay Heritage Centre

Date: 14 October (Saturday) and 15 October (Sunday)

Time: 8.30pm

For full details of this and other events at the MHC, you can visit [their facebook page].

(Almost all of) 2017 at a glance

Turns out we’ve done quite a bit this year – so much so that with real life still lapping at our ankles, there’s been no time to write about it, until now 🙂

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Playing for the weddings for our members is the best kind of engagement 🙂 Here’s a short clip of us playing for Mas Mokhtar’s daughter.

2017: We’re still alive!

A short note to apologise for the lack of updates (real life, alas) and to let people know that our ensemble is still alive and playing away. Do check out our recently updated rehearsal schedule: we’re back to the classic Wednesday evenings, as well as an additional Tuesday evening for more gamelan goodness 😀

Feel free to use the contact form to get in touch!

Closing 2016

Grateful for a busy year full of exciting collaboratons with both old and new friends! Here’s some highlights from Lintas Nusantara, the Launch of the Contemporary Wayang Archive, and Vinayaka!

Lintas Nusantara (Photo Credits: Haiqal Tahir)

Snapshots of Arjuna Wiwaha, a Yogyakarta style Dance Drama

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Launch of Contemporary Wayang Archive

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Vinayaka

Our first time performing alongside Indian muscians and Dancers!

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A big thank you to all musicans, dancers, collaborators, movers and logistics guys, stage and sound crews and our supportive audiences who’ve accompanied us throughout our most hectic performance season ever!

Upcoming Shows in October!

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be involved in three exciting productions in collaboration with artistes from Indonesia:

Lintas Nusantara 

September 30, Friday and October 1, Saturday (8.30 pm on both days)

Malay Heritage Centre

Free, but requires registration at: http://malayheritagecentre.peatix.com/

This performance features dances from different parts of Indonesia, Tari Saman from Aceh, Gending Sri Vijaya from Sumatra, and Arjuna Wiwaha, performed by dancers and musicians from ISI Jogjakarta, in collaboration with Singa Nglaras.

Launch of Contemporary Wayang Archive
7 October at 15:00–17:30
NUS Theatrette LT13
Free admission

WayangHip Hop from Yogyakarta and Singa Nglaras Gamelan Ensemble from NUS will collaborate in a joint performance. The event will also feature talks by NUS professors to launch the Contemporary Wayang Archive – CWA (cwa-web.org). Participants include Jan Mrázek, Sarah Weiss, Farah Wardani, Marianna Lis, Miguel Escobar Varela and Catur Benyek Kuncoro.
For more information, see: https://www.facebook.com/events/1774183482853697/

And also…

Vinayaka

October 16, Sunday, 7.30pm

SOTA Drama Theatre

Tickets at $25 and $30 (Available at: http://www.bhaskarsartsacademy.com/2016/05/vinayaka/ )

This is a collaboration between Bhaskar Arts Academy and Jakarta based Sasana Budaya Art Troupe, and features Indian and Javanese dance and music (that’s us!).

See you there!

Ramayana 2016

This year, we were fortunate to share the stage with really awesome musicans from Solo, to support a production of the Ramayana incorporating Javanese dance and contemporary shadow puppetry. This was staged as the closing of the Malay Heritage Centre’s Javanese Exhibition, presented in collaboration with the Javanese Association. Big shout out to our collaborators Gamelan Asmaradana and Gamelan Naga Kencana, as well as the tech, staging, and logistical crews that made the production possible.

The video, by Haiqal Tahir and Matin Haiqal is on youtube:

And here are some behind the scenes rehearsal shots, also taken by Haiqal:

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