Danendra Imam Gaddafie played the wayang well in the play entitled "Gatotkaca Jedhi". His voice echoed steadily throughout the room, accompanying the solah (playing tempo), musical instrument elements and cepengan (holding/moving the puppets) impressively like a professional dalang. Denendra is a grade 2 student at SDN Mojo 1 Ngawi. He has been interested in the world of wayang since he was four years old when he saw Ki Seno's puppet show on YouTube. "I like Ki Seno's performance ," he said. So far, Danendra had performed twice, namely during the new year celebration in Ngawi and the second time when he participated in the Young Dalang Festival held by UNY.
Danendra trains his skill at the Sukadi Cultural Mastuti Studio. The training method uses a hybrid system, a combination of online and offline training. To practice suluk, for example, it can be offline or online. However, for cepengan training, he must get direct guidance offline. Fortunately, Danendra has mastered the basics of wayang performance.
The committee chairman for the young dalang festival at UNY, Sukisno, stated that the dalang is one of the most challenging professions in the art world. A dalang must be able to do several things simultaneously. The feet must be ready to step on the keprak; the hands play wayang; the mouth voices the dialogue, and the ears listen to the gamelan accompaniment. Sukisno hopes that these young dalang can preserve traditional Indonesian culture.
