Javanese Shadow Drama: The Challenges of Translation March 10, 2012

"Kathryn Emerson has been living for 20 years in Java, and teaches at Jakarta International School in Indonesia's capital. For the first half of her time in Java she focused on the study of gamelan--the traditional orchestra of Javanese instruments--music, and is married to a famous Javanese drummer (one of the performers in this tour). Since 2003, she has been focusing on wayang (traditional shadow drama), and learning the special form of language used in wayang, as well as about the stories, characters, and philosophy of wayang. She has worked as Purbo Asmoro's performance translator for over seven years, and has toured the USA twice with him; as well as Singapore, France, England, and India. Kathryn Emerson is a candidate for receiving a PhD from the Leiden Institute of Area Studies in Leiden, The Netherlands, for her work on this extensive project. Kathryn was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan, received her BA from Cornell University, and her MA from Queens College in New York City."