In 2005, ShadowLight Productions, with Gamelan Sekar Jaya, presented, "A Gathering of Gamelans" at The Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The festival highlighted the traditional performing arts from five countries including Bali, West Java, Cambodia, Thailand, and Southern Philippines. The festival also premiered A (Balinese) Tempest, Larry Reed's adaptation of "The Tempest" by Shakespeare. 

 Festival introduction by ShadowLight Artistic Director, Larry Reed

   "In the past 30 years, Bay Area gamelan has come into its own. Once 'obscure' and 'exotic,' gamelan today is recognized for influencing local composers, and has become a favorite of Bay Area audiences.
   Last year, I felt moved to honor the artistic traditions of Southeast Asia - all of them endangered by global cultural homogenization - which have inspired my traditional and contemporary work. I decided to organize a festival the Bay Area hasn't seen in decades, one gathering many local gamelans to offer audiences a way to experience first-hand the clear (and subtle) relationships among various traditions. Dalangs in Java and Bali both draw from the Mahabharata - why not show how three artists from three different regions tell the same story? Cambodian dance shares some ancestry with Sundanese - it's interesting and inspiring to see them together. 
   Gamelan means 'orchestra,' and in the same way that a Western ensemble could denote a symphony, rock band or jazz quartet, gamelan comes in many flavors. Though it is technically an Indonesian term, the music and dance of Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines share a great affinity to that of Indonesia. We are honored to have these three additional cultures represented in A Gathering of Gamelans.
   The festival culminates with a new interpretation of a Shakespeare classic inspired by both Elizabethan and Balinese traditions: A (Balinese) Tempest, fusing ShadowLight's cinematic, wide-screen theater with the Balinese music of Gamelan Sekar Jaya."

Take a moment and read through the program to learn more about the traditions, stories, artistry, music, dance, and artists involved in this festival. 

The California Arts Council, a state agency, announced that it plans to award $10,200 to ShadowLight Productions as part of its Artists in Schools program.

The Artists in Schools program supports projects that integrate community arts resources — artists and professional art organizations — into comprehensive, standards-based arts learning projects for California's students. This year, the California Arts Council’s Artist in Schools program will allow 144 arts organizations to hire 580 teaching artists that will serve a total of more than 43,000 students in 323 schools across California.

This award will support our Shadow Theatre Arts Education residency program at four San Francisco Bay Area Schools during the 2016/2017 school year. Our professional teaching artists will instruct  multi-week shadow theatre residencies at our partner school sites (in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley), all of which will culminate in original shadow theatre projects created and performed by participating students. Students will engage in our unique shadow theatre form, which blends theatre, literary and visual arts, dance, film, animation and music. These immersive residencies are part of the partnering schools' arts integration efforts and are tailor-designed in collaboration with each school site coordinator.

“When we reflect upon our mission and the ancient shadow theatre traditions upon which we stand, we realize that the essence of our legacy lies in sharing: inspiring the next generation to take part in the long lineage of Shadow Theatre traditions. Disseminated by master artists, Shadow Theatre is traditionally a community-building art form. With this as our inspiration, we will continue to train young shadow theatre artists and performers in workshops and in our major productions, and by immersing public school students in the art form through our residency program and DVD series.”  - Larry Reed

The news of ShadowLight’s grant was featured as part of a larger announcement from the California Arts Council, which can be viewed online at http://arts.ca.gov/news/pressreleases.php.
 
“California Arts Council grants provide vital support for projects in diverse communities across our state,” said Craig Watson, Director of the California Arts Council. “This was an historic year of state arts support. We are proud to invest more than $8.5 million in funding 712 grant projects that will stimulate local growth and prosperity, and meet the needs of our communities through deep engagement with culture and creative expression.”
 
The California Arts Council will continue to grow the reach of its programs in the coming year, as the result of a significant one-time state arts funding increase for 2016-17 announced last week.

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Founded in 1972 (incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1994) by filmmaker, theatre artist Larry Reed, ShadowLight Productions’ mission is to expose the general public to shadow theater and other art forms. As one of the very few professional shadow theatre companies in the world, we strive to demonstrate a wide spectrum of Shadow Theatre to audiences of all ages and backgrounds, and our arts-in-education program lies at the heart of our mission. For more information, visit: www.ShadowLight.org

The mission of the California Arts Council, a state agency, is to advance California through the arts and creativity. The Council is committed to building public will and resources for the arts; fostering accessible arts initiatives that reflect contributions from all of California's diverse populations; serving as a thought leader and champion for the arts; and providing effective and relevant programs and services. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.

A Balinese shadow play is used to complete a religious ceremony and also for entertainment. It is accompanied by two or four instruments called gender wayang, which have ten bronze keys suspended over bamboo resonators. Each instrument plays an individual but complementary part so that the full melody is realized only if the two parts are played together. If four instruments are used, the second pair is tuned one octave higher than the first and the parts are simply doubled.

The Gamelan musicians playing the gender wayang respond to the direction of the Dalang, Shadow Master.

Performing this Saturday (June 25th) at St. Cyprian's Church in SF
https://www.facebook.com/events/1316892795004906/
Don't miss Larry Reed with live Wayang Gender musical accompaniment by Gamelan ensemble members
Carla Fabrizio, Paul Miller, Pete Steele and Sarah Willner. 

#Shadowtheatre #MusicofBali #genderwayang 

Wayang Bali, the Balinese shadow play, is one of the most exciting undiscovered events of world theater. Until recently, language barriers have kept its drama and humor hidden from the world at large. Plots for Wayang Bali are drawn from the Mahabharata myth cycle, in which five brothers are pitted against one hundred jealous cousins in a struggle for power involving gods, demons, magical weapons, and the inevitable beautiful princess. 


Join us on Saturday, June 25, 2016 at 8:00pm for an Evening of Balinese Shadow Play performed by Larry Reed at  St. Cyprian's Church (2097 Turk Street, SF)
 
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door
$18 students, children & seniors
www.noevalleymusicseries.com
 
Box Office: 415-454-5238
Ticket Sales: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2553039
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1316892795004906/

More about Balinese Shadow Play - Wayang Bali
According to Balinese philosophy, a wayang performance is a symbol of the cosmos.  The dalang (Shadow Master) represents God; the screen represents the world, including the atmosphere; the damar (oil lamp – in tonight’s case, electric lamp) is the sun and the banana log underneath the screen is the earth on which the creatures work; the wayang (puppet characters) are the creatures.  The accompanying gender music represents irama djaman, which means in phase with the periods of history.
 
A Balinese shadow play is used to complete a religious ceremony and also for entertainment. It is accompanied by two or four instruments called gender wayang, which have ten bronze keys suspended over bamboo resonators.  Each instrument plays an individual but complementary part so that the full melody is realized only if the two parts are played together.  If four instruments are used, the second pair is tuned one octave higher than the first and the parts are simply doubled.
 
The dalang (shadow master/puppeteer) must know many stories from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, and traditional Balinese literature. In addition, he must know music, dance, singing, and drama, and sometimes he also knows painting and carving. During a performance, he holds a small gavel called chepala between his right toes with which he pounds on the wooden wayang box to accompany the actions of the puppets and to signal to the musicians. He must be able to create the voices and dialects of many characters. The characters speak Kawi, old Javanese – an ancient language close to Sanskrit, except for the servant characters who translate the proceedings into Balinese for the benefit of the audience, most of whom do not understand Kawi.  The puppets are divided according to their character.  The “good” characters are place on the right side of the dalang; the “evil” ones on his left. Of course this division is not black and white as there are some good in every bad character and any good character might have certain weakness. In the course of a performance, close battles may occur between the forces of good and evil, the right side will always triumph.

I have been an actor since kindergarten working professionally since high school.  In college I studied film, photography and languages. I can’t remember when I first noticed shadows, but it was very early on.  Growing up I spent a lot of time in the woods, imagining things. Once I woke up from a nap and found myself watching the shadow of a bug on a leaf, inches from my nose. My first photographs were of shadows in the snow.

In the early seventies I traveled to Indonesia. I wanted to go someplace that wasn't being ravaged by war or tourism. I had just graduated from film school, and I set off to the Far East, camera in hand. Within weeks my camera was stolen and I found myself in a small village, revising my plans.

I didn’t understand a word I heard. I was in audio space, watching energy flow around the room as people were talking. One night everyone set off in the dark through the rice paddies with flashlights blinking like fireflies. There was a cacophony of frogs, and distant music. We came upon a clearing filled with people crowded around a small screen with a flame behind it making flickering shadows. A single performer was manipulating scores of puppets, creating incredible sounds with his voice, leading the orchestra with a mallet in his foot, and making the audience laugh and cry.

Four years later I was back, sitting behind the screen next to the shadow master night after night, watching him perform, studying with him all day long. I began to understand how powerful mythology can be when it is alive to somebody. I learned music, singing and dance. I used a tape recorder to study the rhythms and inflections of the various characters, and once in a while I would be allowed to handle a puppet.

I found out that an Indonesian meaning for “shadow” is close to our idea of “imagination,” and that shadows are a link between the small world inside us and the larger outside world. In fact mythology functions as a kind of public dream that goes back to the beginning of humanity.  It is a repository for deep information about the psyche. The language of mythology is close to the language of nature and has to do with reading signs and seeing relationships. When you bring a myth to life it has a power that goes beyond mere storytelling.

The plots for wayang are drawn from a Hindu myth about five brothers who are pitted against one hundred jealous cousins in a struggle for power involving gods, demons, magical weapons, and the inevitable beautiful princess. Performances are improvised following traditional strategies. The main characters speak an ancient language (Kawi), which is translated into the modern language for the audience through the mouths of servant and clown characters in the play. Popular performers continually invent new episodes and reframe old ones in contemporary terms.

The flame of an oil lamp casts flickering shadows of silhouette puppets onto a cloth screen. The crowd buzzes with anticipation heightened by the live gamelan music. There is the whole village attending.  Philosophical sections for adults; slapsticks for the children that give the adults freedom to laugh like a child. And the romantic section for the teenagers at the edges of the crowd. People watch the play from the front, move around to watch from behind, or pull back to a refreshment stand for an overview. 
 
Since the stories are improvised, even the most ancient story is new every night. One of the dalang’s skills is to understand the prevailing taste of each village. Some are excited by battle scenes; others want new stories. Others want comedy to be emphasized. Before the performance, dalang listens to the conversations of his hosts and will often incorporate what he hears into the show. If there is a problem to be addressed, he will do it through the characters in the show without naming names. My teacher said it is like putting out a whole lot of shoes and people will put their own feet into the ones that fit.
 
After returning from Bali in the late ’70s, I formed the first Western group to study and perform wayang. For Americans, this was a totally new type of theater experience. The required silence of a concert hall or theatre gives way here to a relaxed enjoyment and timeless sense of togetherness. A wayang performance is truly a social event. We performed in public parks, community organizations, churches, schools and universities around the country. Beyond presenting the little-known form of theatre from across the seas, we believed it was a living demonstration of the fundamental unities of the human spirit. 
 
After 20 years of performing wayang, I began to think about ways to engage the American audience on a much deeper level. I wanted to give people a better sense of the mythological experience I witnessed in Bali. I wanted to give people an experience of their own mythology. Then I thought about Drive-in Movies – a modern shadow play for the village!
 
I challenged myself to integrate the traditional with the modern by experimenting with a variety of light sources and materials, and delving into history as it relates to shadows, cinema, and storytelling. After much experimentation (and many failures), I arrived at a style that I now describe as “live animation.”  Using multiple electric light sources, this method orchestrates a team of shadowcasters projecting shadows of landscapes and puppets, and performing with masks to create cinematic effects live on a giant 15’ x 30’ screen.
 
In the process of developing this method, I wanted to carry over certain values from my Indonesian training: 1) the story is often told in more than one language; 2) the music is always live and able to respond to nightly differences; 3) the target audience is a “village” of people of all ages; and 4) there is a respect for tradition and a contemporary point of view. I quickly found out that this framework could be applied to any culture in the world - just like cinema. 
 
After the technical and stylistic aspects of my work became firm, I turned ShadowLight Productions into a non-profit organization with the intent to make theater and video that would contribute to cross-cultural understanding. I am particularly interested in making works that can serve as a bridge between underserved groups and general populations by highlighting their languages, mythologies and music. For example, I created COYOTE’S JOURNEY (2000) with the Karuk and Hoopa tribes of Northern California and PORO OYNA (2014) with the Aynu tribe in Northern Japan. GHOSTS OF THE RIVER (2009) was our joint effort with playwright Octavio Solis and activist/artist Favianna Rodriguez to put a human face on the contentious US/Mexico border issues. I am always aware that I am working in a continuum that embraces the most ancient of forms and its modern permutations. It is my hope that my work provides opportunities for my collaborators and audiences to cross “borders” to new domains of cultural enrichment, social contemplation, artistic inspiration and mutual understanding.

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Youth Art Month officially ends today, but that isn't going to stop us from making art, inspiring others and sharing our experiences all year long! Join us #Arts4All #ArtsEd #ShadowLightInSchools

The Artists in Schools program supports projects that integrate community arts resources—artists and professional art organizations—into comprehensive, standards-based arts learning projects for California’s students.





We are proud to be among the 135 arts organizations to receive funding support from the California Arts Council.  This award will support our Shadow Theatre Arts Education programs at four partner schools in and around the San Francisco Unified School District during the 2015/2016 school year. ShadowLight's professional teaching artists will continue their multi-week shadow theatre residencies at our partner schools, all of which will culminate in original shadow theatre projects created and performed by participating students.  The residencies are part of the partnering schools' arts integration efforts and tailor-designed in collaboration with school faculty.  

Over the past three decades, ShadowLight has successfully provided very unique educational programs for professional artists, students and teachers in Bay Area public schools, colleges and universities, inspiring the next generation of creative minds.  During each of our residencies, we approach it as collaboration with teachers and students.  Not only are we teaching but we are also learning a great deal. As an organization, we take joy and pride in the student performances.  We are always overwhelmed and humbled by individual student’s reactions to their experience in the shadow theatre residency.  A fifth grade student at Buena Vista/Horace Mann sums it up by writing, “I learned that even though we’re just kids, we can do something pretty big!” 

“California Arts Council grants support a wide range of projects that are crafted by each community to reflect their values and needs,” said Donn K. Harris, Chair of the California Arts Council. “It is always exciting to see what creative minds attempt to do when working collaboratively. With an increased state investment, we are able to further spark the powerful growth and prosperity that result from the deep arts engagement provided by our grant programs.”

To view a complete listing of all Artists in Schools grantees, visit http://arts.ca.gov/news/pressreleases.php.

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Founded in 1972 (incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1994) by filmmaker, theatre artist Larry Reed, ShadowLight Productions’ mission is to expose the general public to shadow theater and other art forms. As one of the very few professional shadow theatre companies in the world, we strive to demonstrate a wide spectrum of Shadow Theatre to audiences of all ages and backgrounds, and our arts-in-education program lies at the heart of our mission.  www.shadowlight.org

The Mission of the California Arts Council, a state agency, is to advance California through the arts and creativity. The Council is committed to building public will and resources for the arts; fostering accessible arts initiatives that reflect contributions from all of California's diverse populations; serving as a thought leader and champion for the arts; and providing effective and relevant programs and services. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.

Although the 2014/2015 school year has come to an end, the students' shadow plays will continue to touch our lives, hearts, and minds on YouTube.  ShadowLight's teaching artists; Leonidas Kassapides, Caryl Kientz, I Made Moja, and Lorna Velasco worked with dedicated students from around the Bay Area and beyond to create original shadow plays. 

During the multi-week residencies students were immersed in the art of shadow theatre and giving them opportunities to expand their communication, organizational and problem-solving skills, while shaping their own creativity during the process. They had a rare hands-on opportunity to work together towards a common goal: a production where cooperation and collaboration are necessary for success.   

Check out the latest student shadow play footage on YouTube --> SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL

www.shadowlighteducation.org
#ShadowLightInSchools #ArtsEd