Wayang wong in Javanese. Abstract, symbolic dance plays with or without masks, employing people who dress up like puppets. Masks are usually worn only by animals such as monkeys, birds, or monster roles (for example, the King of Demons in the Ramayana). A da/ang could recite and chant, but the dialogue is most often spoken by live actors and actresses. Wayang orang is more intelligible and more of a spectacle to tourists with its rich costuming, gamelan music, highly sophisticated dance, and the antics of the clowns. Shiny costumes of gold and black and rich deep-coloredbatiks and silks are worn. This wayang form is by far the most expensive to stage. A boxful of leather or wooden puppets is much cheaper to maintain than a whole troupe of live actors who have to be fed, clothed and given salaries. Consequently,wayang orang is the rarest seen. history: Wayang orang has an ancient pre-Islamic source as perhaps a cremation celebration, male initiation rite, war dance, or chant recital, with the dalang acting as a kind of priest. The modern form first flowered in the 18th and 19th Centuries, put on solely for the aristocracy. Many of the best dancers are to this day pure nobility. The present style reached its peak in the years 1900-1940 when huge extravagant performances were presented in the royal courts of Central Java. Presided over by the sultan, Javanese and Dutch dignitaries and splendidly dressed court ladies sitting in long rows would attend an opulent feast and glittering dance drama lasting 3 days. Now only the 4-day long dance festivals held at Prambanan in Central Java and at Pandaan in East Java each year from June to Oct. can compare with them .