Boyolali, Central Java (ANTARA) - Several kindergarten and elementary school students from various regions in Java Island participated in the 2022 Dalang Bocah (Child Shadow Puppet Masters) Festival held in Boyolali, Central Java, to commemorate the 2022 World Wayang (Shadow Puppet) Day.
"We hope that with this Dalang Bocah festival, the art of wayang will be more loved and remain in the hearts of the community," Head of the SKWL Nusantara arts studio Ki Gondo Wartoyo, noted here on Saturday. The 2022 Dalang Bocah Festival was held to introduce wayang kulit, or a shadow puppet theatre, to the community, especially children.
Wartoyo said that the Dalang Bocah festival was attended by 23 young students from Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java. Meanwhile, the festival's participants came from Boyolali, Pati, Semarang, Surakarta (Central Java), Gunung Kidul (Yogyakarta), and Pacitan and Madiun (East Java).
The festival is being held on November 5-6 to commemorate World Wayang Day on November 7. During the festival, each child puppeteer was given a maximum of 35 minutes to perform his or her play.
A child puppeteer, Ki Kondang Kalimosodo from SKWL Nusantara, performed at the opening, with the traditional ensemble of music gamelan, where the players were also young school children. Six-year-old Jasin Mustofa Selin, a participant from Segawuh Karangdowo Village in Klaten, Central Java, said he likes wayang kulit and aspires to become a famous puppeteer.
He learned to perform puppetry from an early age from his mother, a player of kendang, a traditional two-headed drum, who usually joins in the performance of Ki Dalang Tikno from Klaten. Meanwhile, Boyolali's Head of the Education and Culture Office, Darmanto, conveyed his support for the implementation of the Dalang Bocah Festival.
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"I am proud that the children love the noble cultural heritage of wayang kulit. Wayang kulit is amazing, there are elements of music, dance, story, and entertainment, while it also contains message, advice, and education for children," he said.
The festival was preceded by a parade of 35 one-meter-high puppets and assistance handover to orphans.
