We are available to perform:

• Mask dance theater
• Shadow puppet theater
• Horse trance dancing
• Mocopat sung poetry
• Gamelan music for receptions
• Dance dramas
• Ceremonies

Wayang topeng (mask dance) performances originally lasted all night like wayang kulit (shadow puppet theater), but now this practice is dying out. We happily oblige performances to order: 1 hour, 2 hours, one dance, or all night. The stories are taken from the Prince Panji cycle of tales and, as in wayang kulit, the story is narrated and sung by a dhalang, who recreates the stories passed orally to him from generation to generation. The dancers do not speak themselves with the one exception of the clown, Patrajaya, who wears a half-mask allowing him to speak. While the other dancers move with grace and style, Patrajaya plays the fool: knock kneed, buck teeth, an old cloth tied loosely around his head, he provides the comic relief. New stories are improvised from time to time and old ones built upon to create something new. We have innovated new stories, most recently Panji Reni, which has been recorded on VCD.

Shadow puppet theater

"Among Asia's many glories are its colourful and unusual performing arts. Yet none surpasses the Javanese shadow play in the strangeness of its format and, by virtue of the strangeness, the promise of aesthetic and perhaps even mystical riches to be found within it." (Ward Keeler, "Javanese Shadow Puppets")

Our shadow puppet performances today combine many of the traditional arts and fabricate a whole all-night show, from the childrens gamelan orchestra group, and the young dhalang, Condro, to the inclusion of popular comedians and local popular dances like remo. Although we try to reinvent or renovate East Javanese music so that it never becomes stagnant, we also try to remain true to the traditions that make it recognizably "Malangan". The shows last from 8 in the evening to 4 in the morning, and it is expected that people will wander freely in and out throughout the show.

Horse trance dancing

The 'horse' dance is named after a hobby horse: it is made from bamboo woven into the shape of a stylized horse. Six or twelve dancers perform together on horses painted white or red or black, spiritually powerful colors in Java. Horse trance dancing, or "kuda lumping" in Indonesian, is currently the most popular style of folk art being performed regularly in East Java. A complete evening begins with female dancers who perform remo as the opening welcome dance. The first group of hobby horse dancers, male or female, performs without going into trance. The second group of dancers goes into trance, for hours even, to the general entertainment and hilarity of the inevitably large crowd that attends.

What is meant by 'mocopat sung poetry' is metric verse that is sung in established and recognizable melodies. Most local listeners would know the most popular mocopat melodies like "mijil" for example.

Traditionally performed for rites of passage like weddings and circumcisions, mocopat is also often performed for house warmings, or for when a baby's umbilical cord falls off at one week. Any story can be put to mocopat, but life stories fit the best because of the melodies that make up the mocopat repertoire: "mijil" is for the baby's birth, and "kinanthi" for when it exits the womb, "sinom" for when she is still young, "asmaradana" and "mas kumambang" for first love, and "dandanggula" for married life. "Durma" is sung for parts of the story that detail life troubles, and "pangkur" for old age. "Pucung", "wirangrong" and "balabag" are for death and burial.

Traditionally sung a capella or just with a sitar, our mocopat group also regularly performs with a full gamelan ensemble.

Gamelan music for receptions

We are available for wedding receptions which we perform in both the east Javanese and central Javanese styles. The full wedding package includes dances and music for the entire reception from the "temu", the meeting of the bride and groom, to accompaniment for the meal provided at the end of the reception.

Dance dramas

We are often commissioned to choreograph and perform dance dramas. In the past these have included such things as environmental issues like pollution or historical stories based on such things as the Majapahit Kingdom ("Wijaya Narapati") or the rice goddes, Dewi Sri. In July 2002 we performed the colossal dance drama Panji Nusantara at the Pandaan Open Air Theater.

We are available for rite of passage events like the 7th month ceremony for expectant mothers; mocopat singing for babies at birth or at one week; 7th month touching-the-ground ceremonies for newborns; weddings, including the reception, the siraman (the ritual washing of the bride), the temu (the meeting of the bride and groom); and receptions for any function. M. Soleh Adi Pramono is a dhalang ruwatan which means that he can perform ritual purification ceremonies for individuals who are considered for some reason 'unlucky.' The most common reasons are within families: for example for an only child or for an only son born between two sisters, or vice versa, or two girls or two boys in one family. Life events can also demand a ritual purification, for example, if you drop a rice steamer you should be ritually purified.

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