Get to the bottom of Water Puppetry
A book on the 100 year-old art of Vietnamese water puppetry was launched in Ha Noi last week. It portrays the joy of a unique form of entertainment that gives the little puppets a life of their own.
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Water puppets, accompanied by music and singing, can often be seen dancing on the village ponds and swimming pools during festivals or on a special water stage at Ha Noi’s puppetry theatre.
They can even perform spectacular acrobatics that would be the envy of game-show robots, and yet no puppeteers or controlling devices are ever seen.
The audience only sees the puppets moving over the shimmering surface of the water. Water puppetry was originally performed in rural villages throughout the Red River Delta. It was not until 1958 that the art form was introduced into Ha Noi city itself.
The first State-run puppetry troop was established in 1973 and, in 1984, Vietnamese water puppetry was introduced overseas for the first time – in France . Since then, visitors to Ha Noi have come to love the performing art.
Different from other kinds of marionette art, Vietnamese water puppetry is enacted on water. For centuries, it was a cultural past time developed by farmers during their spare time at folk festivals between harvests.
Water puppeteers gather in family groups or village level troupes. They have strict rules to protect their creations and their professional secrets.
Today in Ha Noi, water puppetry is presented on specially designed stages
and is backed by a professional orchestra. However, those fortunate to attend a traditional village festival, learn the true significance of the art in folk life.
Performances provide not only great pleasure, but also vividly portray the ancient cultural life of Vietnamese people along a Red River Delta.
They say that to quickly gain an insight into history, culture and traditional life of the Vietnamese people, the best way is to watch a performance.
The 64-page colour printed book, published by the Vietnam News Agency’s Publishing House, is priced at 64,000VND (4USD).
Written by Pham Hoang Hai, an amateur photographer at the The Gioi Publisher, the book is available at souvenir shops and bookstores throughout Ha Noi.
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