Vietnamese water puppets

Asia » Vietnam
November 5th 2013

Published: March 14th 2008

The 1,000-year-old Vietnamese water puppetry (Múa rối nước) is one of the most special art forms in the world. It originated in the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam in the 11th century. The farmers in the region, while being free from the harvests, spent their time carving the wooden puppets and performing water puppet shows at the communal ponds to celebrate the festivals. The pupp... Read Full Entry

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Hanoi_girl

theRedRiver

I am a Hanoi_girl who loves to travel. When working for a Japanese construction company in Hanoi, I had the chance to travel to 28 countries and to all the 63 provinces in Vietnam, including 25 trips to Huế city. Egypt, Mongolia and Italy are my love, and other favorite countries are Australia, France, New Zealand, Nepal, Fiji, Japan, India, Indonesia, Belgium, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China (8 trips, 15 cities), South Korea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Cambodia (3 trips), Brunei Darussalam, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Laos (3 trips), Malaysia (4 trips), Singap... full info

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Vietnamese water puppets

Thăng Long water puppet theater

Vietnamese singers peform traditional folk songs and music during the water puppet show in Hanoi.

At the Thành Chương's Viet Palace

This is an outdoor water puppet theater at the Thành Chương's Viet Palace which is located 35km from Hanoi's center.

Vietnamese water puppets

Symbol of the theater

Symbol of the Thăng Long water puppet theater

Vietnamese water puppet

Vietnamese water puppets

A stage for the water puppet shows

This shot was taken at the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi. This is an outdoor stage for the water puppet shows. The puppeteers stand behind the curtain and control the puppets.

Vietnamese water puppets

Chú Tễu statue

Chú Tễu statue at the Thành Chương's Viet Palace.

28th March 2008

Ned
non-member comment

WATER PUPPETS
I've been to Hanoi seven times, but only got round to seeing the water puppets for the first time in March. It was fantastic! Can't think why i did'nt go before. The skill of the puppetters is amazing. It was so funny! I also love the traditional Vietnamese music. Do you know of any places in Hanoi where there is live traditional music apart from the expensive tourist restaurants and hotels?

29th March 2008

theRedRiver
Hanoi_girl

Live traditional music in Hanoi
I suggest you to visit Cheo Hanoi Theatre (Nha hat Cheo Hanoi) at No. 15, Nguyen Dinh Chieu st., Hanoi, Tel: 84-4-9437361. There are some shows every week, starting from 8pm. Cheo is a special art form of northern Vietnam. The word "Cheo" means “lyrics of folk ballads, proverbs”. The music is similar to the one you heard at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater.

9th May 2011

Collette Knowles
non-member comment

Wonderful puppets, cold puppeteers.
Hi, I am a puppeteer based in the U.K. The article is very interesting and this is the first time I have come across Vietnamese water puppets. It is very exciting to come across new artforms but I guess there must be 100s of types of puppets that I have not heard about and there are so many variations. I imagine it is not one of the most comfortable puppet art forms in the world though(for the puppeteer that is). I liked what you said about the engineer who thought they were powered by computer. We did a shadow puppet show inside a booth one time and in one scene we had two people operating 4 puppets, then in another scene we had still duplicates of the puppets on the screen while we were both outside the booth, some people in the audience were fooled into thinking we had more puppeteers inside the booth. It is amazing how low-tech. solutions can still be magical for people. I will put a link to your blog on mine and if you like, you can put some comments about water puppets on my blog, as I'm sure lots of people would be fascinated to find out about them.

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Vietnamese water puppets

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