WATER DANCING PUPPET?

WAIT...

WHAT?

My last stop for my Hanoi Trip was to watch the infamous Thang Long Water Puppet Show! Before going there, I did a lot of research for my trip and this show almost came up everywhere. And just seeing the photos on the internet heightened my interest even more!

WATER PUPPET SHOW

True to its name, it is a puppet show. Only difference is that the puppets perform on water! These kind of shows started 1000 years ago during the Ly Dynasty. History tells that the show was performed originally on actual rice paddies. Currently, there are 10 master puppeteers who trained for about 3 years or more just to provide a magical show to the viewers. Accompanied with their traditional Vietnamese music using instruments like Wooden bells, bamboo flutes, cymbals, drums and a single stringed guitar, the musicians performed on the side of the stage.

MY AWESOME EXPERIENCE:

I arrived around just 10 minutes before the start of the show. I bought mango shake before entering the theatre to quench my thirst. I was walking the whole day and my legs were tired by that time. Upon entering, the theatre was already pitch-black! But there was someone who would show me my seat. By the way, I bought my ticket the day before because the theatre was always full and to ensure I have a nice spot for documentation. Looking over, I found that the theatre was almost full. So I have to pass by viewers like me who were already seated. My seat was at the middle of the room. And to my embarrassment, the bunch of people seated along my row stood up to let me pass! This was because the spacing of the seats in front of you was just knee apart! Good thing I am a tiny Asian girl but what about the other foreign tall people from the other parts of the world? I could feel the handsome foreign guy beside me was not comfortable in his seat with his long legs. (Guys, I know he was handsome. I have quick eyes for the hotties!) So anyways, I was now seated. Made myself comfortable and prepared my camera. Looking at the stage, I was so excited to be honest! I smiled a big smile. Seeing the pool of water in the middle made me asked how they would be able to make the puppets move. Over the sides, the instruments were ready and came in the musicians and the beautiful ladies who did the voice over for the puppets.

Now, I don’t speak Vietnamese. I was praying that they would at least have parts of the show that was spoken in English. But alas, my expectations were too high. The show was in Vietnamese! There were just times during the show I wished they had an English subtitles so that the foreign visitors would be able to understand even more. I think all their guests were foreign tourists like me.

But the whole show was still an epic experience! When the puppets started coming out, I was pretty amazed that they were able to do big, flawless movements around the stage. And the puppets were made of wood and all dressed up! The master puppeteers were well hidden behind the bamboo curtains. The story lines were pretty funny too! The show was made up of short stories about their culture and history like the following:

The story of Hoan Kiem Lake and the giant tortoise.

Story of fire breathing dragon.

Story about the typical life of a Vietnamese farmer and fisherman.

Story about the women villagers.

The music was played with their unique instruments and the voice over did such an amazing job! Even though I didn’t understand one thing what they were saying, I did understand the story through the emotions they were portraying through their voices and the actions of the puppets. The show was around 40 minutes. The actors behind the scenes then came out! We applaud for their superb performance!

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Overall, the show was one of a kind! You can also see one in Vietnam. I did enjoy it a lot! And I recommend to all of you who also planned on visiting Hanoi. You will definitely be figuring out all throughout the show how they the were able to move the puppets the way they did. Until now, I am still in awe on how they did it!

Location: 57B, Dinh Tien Hoang Street near Hoan Kiem Lake
Ticket Price: 100,000 VND

You can check out my recent blogs and show some love here:
Travel Post:
https://steemit.com/travel/@indayclara/inday-clara-travels-solo-9-first-time-going-to-a-prison-maison-centrale-in-hanoi
#Ulog Posts:
https://steemit.com/ulog/@indayclara/ulog-1-inday-clara-is-amazingly-awesome
https://steemit.com/ulog/@indayclara/ulog-2-thoughts-on-being-an-awesome-third-wheel

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