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Hanoi - Water Puppet show


The water puppet show (Mua Roi Nuoc) at The Vietnam National Puppetry Theatre, 361 Truong Chinh, Hanoi is a unique art, performed in a pool of water with the water surface as the stage.  The puppeteers male and female, stand waist deep in the water behind the backdrop and manipulate the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface. It's performed live, very artistically done and the puppetry was done to the beat of the music.

Dialogue and narration were all in Vietnamese except for the English salutation, but you can more or less make out the act as they're rather basic.  The show lasted an hour, part of our tour itinerary, cost 40,000 Dong, very reasonable.  It's a cultural experience and we enjoyed it thoroughly.




 This is the stage, standing in water.


This is the stage for the orchestra, all traditional musical instruments.


The show started off with dragons puffing out 'fire' and 'smoke' admist the crackling sound of fire crackers


 It was indeed a beautiful sight!


The fireworks made the show very spectacular!


The orchestra in traditional costumes and the pretty lasses sang ..... but alas, all in Vietnamese!


Is this a phoenix........ not quite sure, but it's colourful


I was truly amazed by the skill of the puppeteers, they were excellent and the show well choreographed.  The puppets danced and moved to the beat of the music.

 

A scene of farmers ploughing the fields with water buffaloes.



The puppets were handmade, traditionally Vietnamese and very colourful!


Snapped this picture from the Confucius temple, these puppets were on sale.


A close up view of the puppets that were on sale, beautifully hand crafted.

Read more of this water puppet show @ Wikipedia, and Click here to watch it  'Live'!


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Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 4, 2010 at 1:47 AM

    Wow what a great experience and great pictures too! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MaryMohJanuary 4, 2010 at 3:13 AM

    I love puppetry and this looks absolutely fascinating to me. I wish I were there to watch it. Thanks for all the interesting information about your Hanoi trip. Wonderful to know you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ShirleyJanuary 4, 2010 at 12:26 PM

    I am enjoying your Hanoi posts Cheah, since I've never been there. Water Puppet Show- am sure my kids would love that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. penny aka jeroxieJanuary 4, 2010 at 12:29 PM

    Oh! So cool! thanks for sharing all this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sokehah cheahJanuary 4, 2010 at 12:56 PM

    Dear Friends
    You are most welcome, I enjoy posting them and sharing with you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rotterdam ICONJanuary 4, 2010 at 5:53 PM

    I have enjoyed travelling with you. Thanks for the trip

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sokehah cheahJanuary 4, 2010 at 11:16 PM

    Hi
    You are most welcome, ICON!

    ReplyDelete
  8. My Little SpaceJanuary 5, 2010 at 11:40 PM

    Water puppet show is very popular over there huh! So, guess you enjoy the show very much lol.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sokehah cheahJanuary 5, 2010 at 11:55 PM

    Hi Kristy
    Yes, I did enjoyed it although can't make out a thing about what they were singing, but can guess a bit from the scene they were depicting.

    ReplyDelete
  10. MaeJanuary 11, 2010 at 4:02 AM

    Wow, thanks for sharing this - I ran right over to the Wiki page to read more! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sokehah cheahJanuary 11, 2010 at 4:55 PM

    Hi Mae
    It's interesting, think it's one of its kind.

    ReplyDelete

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