Ki Purbo Asmoro will present Javanese shadow-puppet theater at Asia Society
JAVANESE WAYANG KULIT, SHADOW-PUPPET THEATER OF INDONESIA
Asia Society
725 Park Ave. at 70th St.
Friday, March 16, 6:30
212-288-6400
www.asiasociety.org
Master dhalang Ki Purbo Asmoro will make a rare appearance at Asia Society on Friday night, performing wayang kulit, Javanese shadow-puppet theater. Purbo Asmoro, known for combining the traditional with the innovative, will be accompanied by a full Javanese gamelan orchestra made up of members of his Java troupe, Mayangkara, as well as New York City’s own Gamelan Kusuma Laras. The three-hour production begins twenty minutes early with welcoming music and will be presented with live English translation. The audience is encouraged to move around and see the show from both sides of the shadow screen, known as a kelir, so they can experience more of this unique form of storytelling. The puppets might be flat objects, but Purbo Asmoro fills them with emotion, energy, and spirit. The performance is part of the “Creative Voices of Muslim Asia” series, which continues April 26 with “New Sufi Music of Pakistan,” a concert with Arif Lohar and Aroog Aftab. And if you can’t score a ticket to this hot event, you can watch the live webcast here.