Most of the puppets look pretty, cheerful, humorous, and symbolic. They are made based on the human shape, polished and decorated with meticulous details, painted with vivid colors to highlight their own characters and finally coated in lacquer. The water puppets themselves are carved out of a special type of wood, which can easily float on the water. This tradition derives from rice fields flooding and back then people used such water puppetry as entertainment. Long bamboo poles and a string system are used underwater to steer the puppets through their various actions. The level of water is kept waist-deep of the puppeteers so that they can manipulate the puppets behind. The water puppet theatre’s stage, usually 4 meters square, which is called “thủy đình” (“thủy” means nước, “đình” is a communal house) is a large submerged pool, with a curtain in the middle separating the actors from the front-end of the performance. One outstanding difference between water puppetry and land puppetry is the set-up of the stage. Firstly, water puppet shows were just a communal performance during harvest time but then it had gradually become an entertaining activity for the Royals, especially in anniversaries and celebrations. The first evidence for this art form is a piece of writing in “Sung Thien Dien Linh” stone stele, dated from the kingdom of Ly Nhan Tong. Historians believe that water puppetry originated from wet rice civilization in the Red River Delta of Northern Vietnam during Ly dynasty (1010-1225). Let’s explore this unique traditional Vietnamese art form with Exotic Voyages. While Vietnamese theater is heavily influenced by Chinese opera and comprises different genres such as cải lương, hát tuồng, and hát chèo, it is no exaggeration to say that water puppetry is the most indigenous cultural trait of Vietnam. Bamboo rods support the puppet under the water and are used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them, making the puppets appear to be moving on the water.Though water puppetry (múa rối nước) appeared more than 4000 years ago all across the world, it originated from the Red River Delta region in northern Vietnam. The puppets are made out of wood and then decorated, while the stage is often a waist-deep pool. Water puppetry originated in northern Vietnam’s Red River Delta area. “ Isis and Osiris” is scheduled to go on tour around the country, he noted.Įgyptian Cultural Minister Helmy El Namnam said the premiere helps Vietnam and Egypt boost cultural cooperation. In an interview after the show with Vietnam News Agency, Mohamed Nour, head of the Cairo Opera House, said this was the first time that Vietnam’s water puppetry had been staged in Egypt. Noda Medhat, a local, said she enjoyed how the story was told using water puppets and hoped the performance would reach audiences across Egypt. Organised by Vietnamese and Egyptian artists from the Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre and Cairo Opera House, the show received rapturous applause from the audience. (Photo: VNA)Ĭairo (VNA) – “Isis and Osiris”, a classic Egyptian tale, was performed using Vietnamese water puppetry in Cairo on May 12. Scene at the water puppetry performance of "Isis and Osiris" in Egypt.
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