Ubud - Shadow Puppets- Death, sacrifice, pride and heroism

Movie (2.8MB):
Death, sacrifice, pride and heroism were shown in full regalia at the Balinese shadow puppet show. With torch lit shadows cast onto a stretched fabric screen, the highly skilled puppeteers engaged, cajoled, and otherwise entertained the tiny audience.

Thankfully, this was after a briefing about the storyline from a nice Balinese man with a very thick accent. I didn't catch all the story details, but the good folks are really good, and the bad folks really bad. In the end, after a fierce battle that was reduced from 5 hours to 50 minutes for tourists, good prevailed.

Of all the performances I've seen in Bali, I think this touched my heart the most. The ambiance was magical, and this had personal meaning for me. One of my recent inspirations for creating an animation background portfolio during this 6 months trip abroad, was the Disney Animated picture "Jungle Book". While pet and house sitting for my friends Alicia and Savannah, I had the unexpected pleasure of watching several animation videos. Besides the obviously glorious landscapes, I found great enchantment in the credits which mimicked a wavering torch lit shadow puppet show. And here I was in Bali, seeing it live. Just like in Jungle book, figures went in and out of focus, changed scale, and jostled stiffly in the golden round glow.


Puppeteers are an endangered bunch, and tourism has keep this traditional art alive. It's no easy thing to become a Balinese puppeteer. Besides the esoteric skills of movement, playing musical instruments, and learning rare "high court" Balinese language, there's a spiritual element to it. If I understand correctly, they become conduits of the power of the 3 main stories that they traditionally enact. They can enter a state of trance. I learned later, from the sister of one of the performers, that so much of the supernatural is involved, that these artists' souls are considered vulnerable to bad spirits. I assume that steps are taken to protect them, as with other performers, and that they are sprinkled and blessed with holy water before and after their performances.

This all sounds quite serious, but like much of Bali, there's room for humor. This Balinese language show was lightly sprinkled with English interludes of "Hello. How are you?" and "I sorry. I no speak English!", and "Heh, heh, heh... no problem!" Quite incongruous to my idea of trance and the mystical power behind stories and characters that never change.


Afterwards, several of us poked our heads backstage to thank the artists, and to see how the magic was created. All the men were crammed into a tiny dark space with the single oil torch still glowing red and yellow. It was obvious who "the man" (the conductor and lead puppeteer) was. He smiled the least, yet had a peaceful and compelling presence.