Kentrung

Kentrung is a Malay or Javanese form of call-and-response rhyming that tells a story. In the art of Kentrung, a puppeteer tells stories while playing a percussion instrument or instruments. Sometimes the puppeteer is accompanied by one or more musicians.

The stories of Kentrung vary from stories about the prophet Adam, the history of Java, and folklore, to transmigration. To the Javanese, these stories integrate with ritual ceremonies for sacred events like weddings, 7-month maternity rituals, or circumcision. Kentrung carries a sense of humor, sometimes bordering on the erotic.