Showing posts with label Arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arts. Show all posts
Monday, May 4, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Water Puppet Show – ‘Mua Roi Nuoc’ Video
An oversea writer said that "water puppetry is the soul of Vietnamese fields." How right he is! At a water puppet show, the audience lives in an atmosphere of a village festival; the audience watches boat races, buffalo fights, fox hunts and other rustic scenes amidst the beating of drums and gongs. The characters plough, plant rice seedlings, fish in a pond with a rod and line, scoop water with a bamboo basket hung from a tripod, etc. The show is interspersed with such items as a 'Dance by the Four Mythical Animals: Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise, and Phoenix "and the 'Dance by the Eight Fairies', in which supernatural beings enjoy festivities alongside people of this world.
Vietnamese water puppeteers have been touring a number of countries from Euroupe to Asia such as France, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, India, etc, with great successes. The director of the World Cultural House said that Vietnamese water puppetry is never far from its roots in rural Vietnam. Vietnamese water puppeteers are masters of an unequalled means of expression. Their art has enriched the world's cultural heritage. A French magazine wrote that the puppets "are manipulated with unimaginable skill, as if by magic."
In fact, Vietnamese water puppetry has a very long history. An inscription on a stone stele in Doi pagoda, Duy Tien district, Nam Ha province (2 hours drive from Hanoi), relates a water puppet show staged in the year 1121 to mark a birthday of King Ly Nhan Tong in 4036 words.
In the water puppet shows there is a very effective combination of visual effects provided by fire, water, and the movements of the marionettes. The whole control system of the show is under the surface of the water, concealed from the audience . When fairy figures appear to sing and dance, it is calm and serene; then, the water is agitated by stormy waves in scenes of battle, with the participation of fire-spitting dragons.
There are many contributing factors to the art of water puppetry, including such handicrafts as woodern sculpture and lacquer work. The factors all work well together to bring out charming glimpses of the Vietnamese psyche, as well as typical landscapes of Vietnam.
Vietnamese Tuong or Classical Opera Video
Classical Opera of Tuong, also called hat boi in the south, is a stage performance that came about during the Ly-Tran dynasties and that became very popular nationwide during the following centuries.
During the dynasty of Nguyen in the 19th century, Tuong occupied a good position in the cultural lives of the royals. In tuong, space and time are captured by songs, dancing, and simple music. In the past, Tuong did not require any elaborate stage accessories. Now, however backdrops and make-up are more elaborate and sophisticated.
Vietnamese Renovated Opera or Cai LuongVideo
Cai luong or Renovated Opera is a kind of folk music that developed in the early 20th century. It was first played by amateurs in the south. Thanks to their soft voices, southerners sing cai luong very romantically.
The performance includes dances, music and songs; the music originally drew its influences from southern folk music. Since then, the music of cai luong has been enriched with hundreds of new tunes. A cai luong orchestra consists mainly of guitars with concave frets and danakim.
Over time, cai luong has experienced a number of changes to become a very highly appreciated type of stage performance.
Vietnamese Cheo or Popular Opera Video
The Opera of Cheo is a dramatic genre with deep popular roots. Traditionally, cheo was composed orally by anonymous authors. Today's playwrights compose cheo operas along traditional lines. The characters in the plays sing time-tested popular melodies with words suited to modern circumstances. At present Cheo opera is an integral part of Vietnamese theatre and is well liked by people in both the country and in towns, and by foreign spectators as well.
The buffoon is a common character in Cheo opera, in which there is often a blend of the tragic and the comic. He speaks the language of the people and shoots shafts of satire at evil-doers, such as ignorant witchdoctors, greedy landlords, or arrogant mandarins. He may wear a short coat, the garment of the commoner or a long robe, an article of clothing favoured by members of the upper classes in the old society. A couple of buffoons may appear on stage, including the master in a flowing gown and his servant in a short coat and carrying a stick, each speaking the language and behaving the ways of his class. The buffoon might make his entry right at the beginning of a play, carrying a torch or a megaphone and provoking wild laughter from the audience.
The great Vietnamese actors in the roles of buffoons are such artistes as Hai Sinh, Tu Lien, Manh Tuan, Ly Mam. A new one is Xuan Hinh, a native of a locality in Bac Ninh famous for its quan ho singers. Xuan Hinh graduated with honours from the Drama and Cinema School in 1989. The scenes in which he appears have drawn applause from cheo enthusiasts. His acting is both impromptu in the ways of the traditional school, and highly sophisticated along the lines of modern drama. He is particularly successful in the role of Harelip, a country bumpkin, and the Soothsayer, a fraud entangled with his own contradictory statements.
Cheo opera is now undergoing a very strong revival. It is particularly relished by our foreign friends and by overseas Vietnamese visiting their mother land country.
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