The water acts as the main stage for the puppets and as a symbolic link to the rice harvest. The original water puppet festivals were performed inside a rice paddy, with a building (pagoda) built on the top to hide the puppeteers who stand in the waist-deep water. Villagers in Northern Vietnam staged water puppet performances to celebrate the end of the rice harvest, religious festivals, and other important occasions. Traditional Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique folk art that originated a thousand years ago. It’s no wonder they say a visit to Hanoi is not complete until you have experienced a Thang Long Water Puppet show. We really did not know what we were getting into until the first few acts started. It’s a mix of handcrafted puppets performing dances on a pools surface to traditional music. The live traditional music plays an integral part of the show with singers often shouting words of encouragement to the water puppets.One of the strangest tourist attractions in Hanoi, Vietnam is the water puppet show. Most of the shows also feature the famous Legend of the Restored Sword of King Le Loi which tells the story of Hoan Kiem Lake and the giant tortoise. Performances today usually include a number of short sketches rather than one long story, taking the show audience on a journey of ancient village life, rice harvests and dances of mythical creatures. The well-known Thang Long Water Puppet Show is considered as one of the best cultural highlights of Northern Vietnam dating back to a tradition that first started in the Vietnam’s Red River Delta. The water puppets are controlled by no more than eight puppeteers satying behind a bamboo screen. Puppet shows at this modern theatre are performed in a indoor pool of water as the stage for the puppets. Most of the puppet shows recount Vietnamese folk tales and legends with topics including the celebration of the Vietnamese rice harvest depicted in a humorous fashion. There are also many authentic Vietnamese operatic songs telling the story that is being acted out by the puppets. Performances of Puppetry are accompanied by a Vietnamese orchestra playing traditional music with drums, wooden bells, horns, bamboo flutes and cymbals. This tradition water puppet is unique to North Vietnam but has recently found fame on stages all over the world so it’s a rare treat to see the water puppets perform in their original location at the Water Puppet Theatre Thang Long. Using large banboo rods and strings to support the puppets it appeared as if they were moving across the water with the puppeteers hidden behind the screen. The traditional water puppet theatre stems from a time when the rice paddy were all flooded and local villagers would make entertainment for themself by standing in the waist-deep water with the puppets performing over the water. The World-Famous Water Puppet Performance in Hanoi came from an art form dated back to the 11th century. The History of Water Puppet Performance in Vietnam:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |