Entering the second decade of the 21st century, puppeteers still manipulate the colourful wooden lacquered figures by the use of long bamboo sticks hidden under the murky water.
#Folk water puppetry arts professional
However, village performers, trained in the phuong societies of the past, cooperated in the l970s to share with urban professional puppeteers their secrets, thus creating the contemporary art. Touring pools were introduced in the l930s, but the political instability from the l940s (World War II) through the end of the South East Asian War (1975) put the tradition at risk. There performances, as part of the annual temple festival, continue today.įew older puppets have survived in the tropical climate, but Keo Pagoda and village troupes in Thai Binh have some older figures from the late 19th or early 20th centuries, 30-40 centimetres tall with mechanisms to move their arms. The earliest mention is an 1121 CE inscription from the Doi Pagoda in Ha Nam province describing an event for King Ly Nhan Tong (Lý Nhân Tông, 1066-1127) at his birthday celebration, which included a swimming tortoise and fairy dancers, scenes that remind us of figures seen today.Ī water puppet stage from the period of the Later Le Dynasty (1533-1708) is still found in Long Tri Lake facing the Thay Pagoda (Thai Binh Province). It seems water puppetry has been continuously found in Vietnam, where it is called mua roi nuoc ( mua, dance roi, puppet nuoc, water). Since the 18th century, there has been no mention of the water puppets in Chinese sources. The puppets, representing characters from famous literary works, were about 60 centimetres in height, each covered with heavy lacquer and colourfully painted.
Beneath the surface, however, the puppet was merely a flat piece of wood the end of which was joined/bound to a horizontal bamboo rod, which the puppeteer from behind the screen would manoeuvre. From behind the curtain wooden figures would emerge one could see the torso above the surface. Although the technique of manipulation is not directly described, it is clear that the puppets in the water were moved from a distance with the mechanism of manipulation below the surface.Īnother description, from 1640, discusses a special pool, part of which was separated by a silk curtain that masked puppet players from spectators. A description from around 1119 tells of puppeteers rowed in a boat, presenting fishermen pulling catch out of the water and manipulating figures playing ball or dancing to music. The technique of early performances in China is not clear, but some commentators believe that the figures at the time of Emperor Yangdi (605-617) were mechanized water puppets. Chinese DevelopmentĬhinese literature attests to water puppets as an old art, shui kailei si ( shui, water kailei, puppet si, play). Today, however, it is clear that international artists are learning from the Vietnamese model, such as the Carter Family Marionettes in Seattle (USA) and Theodora Skipitares of New York. The art may have originated in South East Asia’s wet rice society or have come to Vietnam from China where the earliest records of water puppetry are found. In the 1980s, folklorist Nguyen Huy Hong noted that eight villages had active troupes that continued the phuong arts as they were handed down from earlier periods. Their performance extends elements from the rich tradition of phuong, secret societies of village puppeteers who cultivated this art in the Red River Delta to celebrate temple and village festivals.
#Folk water puppetry arts series
They enact a series of interludes that distil mythology and humorous scenes of village life to create a national representation. Manipulators, waist-deep in the pool’s water, hide behind a temple-like façade covered with a bamboo screen in their staging house. These puppeteers manipulate large (50 centimetres or more), finely sculpted figures using bamboo poles or track mechanisms. These companies employ men and women who are well trained in national art academies, joined by top musicians. Presentations are given by professional puppeteers ( Vietnam National Puppetry Theatre, Nhà Hát Múa Rối Quốc Gia Việt Nam, and Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre, Nhà Hát Múa Rối Thăng Long) based in Hanoi, who tour internationally.
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