Pasindhèn

The part of the sindhèn is largely improvised within strict parameters (similar to instrumental cengkok).

Sindhen can also refer to the choir of male and female singers used to accompany the bedhaya and serimpi court dances.

The original term for pasindhèn was waranggana, and the women were exclusively background singers for wayang and klenèngan performances.

This word was derived from ronggeng, which had undertones of lasciviousness, so in 1948 the most prominent gerong managers gathered and agreed to change it to pasindhèn.

[1] Along with this shift in terminology, the women took on more prominent roles in the troupes, and started to sing alone.