Keeping the water puppet tradition alive in Hanoi. Since then the art has developed into an important part of Vietnam's cultural heritage.Īnd although hundreds of types of puppets and performances can be found throughout the country, the art is still mostly concentrated in northern and central Vietnam. In the past, and in some places still today, rural folks would sit on the edge of a pond to watch the performance. Water puppetry reached its height of popularity among Vietnamese people during the 18 th century, when many Mua Roi Nuoc troupes started offering audiences a wide range of performances. After a period of rapid development from the 11 th -14 th centuries, the art of water puppetry escaped the confines of the royal palaces of the Le and Nguyen dynasties and began showing up at village festivals and ceremonies, thus jump-starting the development of the country's traditional stage arts.Īt that time, famous puppetry guilds began to appear around the country, concentrated mostly in Red River Delta provinces and other northern midland areas. The exact time when water puppetry began in Vietnam is not known, but an early record of the art was found on a stone stele dating back to the 11 th century eulogising the merits of King Ly Nhan Tong. And because of its traditional link to the earth, water and rice growers themselves, water puppetry has often been called the "Soul of the Ricefields." Whether or not this is true is open to debate, but the fact remains that today this art cannot be found anywhere in the world but Vietnam. Historians would have you believe that Vietnam's art of water puppetry, or Mua Roi Nuoc, was also once present in China. They endured bitingly cold winter performances with the help of strong doses of nuoc mam (a fish sauce) and ginger tea. The base includes a rudder and acts as a fulcrum for the strings that control the upper body.įor generations of puppeteers, the craft involved water-borne diseases, rheumatism and leeches. In the simplest technique, the puppet is fixed to a floating base at one end of a bamboo rod about 15 feet long. A wooden puppet stands nearly two feet tall from its base and weighs 20 to 30 pounds synchronizing its movements across the stage with their facial and arm gestures requires strength, dexterity and sometimes two or three people. Even today, village guilds of puppeteers refer to the more complex maneuvers only by code names. Water puppeteers have kept the details of their tricks secret for centuries. Performances will take place in a specially constructed theatre on Pier 45, with five shows a day from October 11 to 15. The Thang Long troupe will be touring United States this October, starting in San Francisco. Over the last decade, this ancient art has been rescued from near oblivion. Performances of up to 18 short scenes are usually introduced by a pig-tailed bumpkin known as Teu, and accompanied by a small folk orchestra. Lion dogs romp like puppies while dragons exhale smoke and shoot sprays of water at the audience. Besides village life, scenes include legends and national history. Fishing turns into a game of wits between the fisherman and his prey, with the fisherman getting the short end (often capturing his surprised neighbor by mistake ). Water puppets bring wry humor to scenes of farming, fishing, festival events such as buffalo fights, and children's games of marbles and coin-toss. The water also provides the best setting for the puppeteers' theme: day-to-day village life. At some point, they discovered that the water was an excellent medium for puppetry: it not only concealed the puppeteers' rod and string mechanisms, but it also provided exciting effects like waves and splashes. First performed a thousand years ago on the surface of ponds and paddy fields in Vietnam's Red River Delta, water puppetry (roi nuoc in Vietnamese) is the lively creation of farmers who spent their days in flooded rice fields. The puppeteers stand behind a curtained backdrop. Water puppetry is performed in a chest-deep pool of water, with the water's surface as a stage. The Thang Long troupe made their debut tour of the United States October 1995 in San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Santa Ana.įor over a thousand years, performers in Vietnamese water puppet theater have always gotten cold feet. Document One Vietnamese Water Puppets by David Taylor
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