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Wayang Hip Hop is a group led by dalang Ki Catur "Benyek" Kuncoro that combines Javanese wayang kulit conventions and hip hop music. This article traces the history of the group in relation to key developments in wayang kontemporer, while exploring controversies in its reception. Wayang Hip Hop is analyzed as an important new version of wayang that has garnered substantial attention from young spectators. Five reasons for the appeal of the performance are identified: (1) its complex musical intersections, (2) the radical adaptation of classical wayang stories to address contemporary problems, (3) the extension of the conventions of the gara-gara comic interlude into a full perfor- mance, (4) the adaption of Javanese wisdom to new settings, and (5) the adaptability of the production, which can has been presented in very diverse contexts.
"Wayang is a cultural performance with artistic, aesthetic and philosophical values. But Wayang Hip Hop is barren, it has no value."
-Sutadi, regional director of Indonesia's Wayang association, PEPADI-Surakarta
"cool cultural event @WayangHipHop!! what do I hear in them? I hear #myCulture"
-A fan, via Twitter
Wayang Hip Hop can be described as keren -the Indonesian equivalent of the world "cool." It can also be described with the word kering, which means "barren." As the quotes above indicate, these dif- ferences of opinion depend largely on whom you ask. In order to bet- ter appreciate the controversy, a description is in order.
This unusual production is the result of collaboration between dalang (master puppeteer) Ki Catur "Benyek" Kuncoro and a host of invited musicians, dancers, and performers. It might be perhaps more accurately described as a performance framework since it is substan- tially different every time it is performed, although it is always framed in a similar way. The performance framework develops as a mostly unscripted gara-gara scene. This is the part of the traditional perfor- mance where the jester figures or clown servants, known as punakawan, invite guest performers (which include other puppets and live actors) on stage, interact with audience members, and give advice in the form of humor. In contrast to a conventional show accompanied by gamelan music, the iringan (accompaniment) of Wayang Hip Hop is provided by digitally crafted music tracks played from a laptop and live...