Thursday, September 20, 2007
Look inside the puppet's head
The Japan Times Online: "'One aspiring to become a puppet operator would have to spend 10 years to master the handling of the puppet's feet and another 10 years to be able to operate its left hand,' says Yoshida Bunjaku, 79, one of two omozukai (principal puppeteers) awarded the title of Living National Treasure. 'While he is learning . . . he is supposed to watch what the omozukai, who is constantly giving him signs, does on stage.'"
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3 comments:
The art of Bunraku puppetry is simply amazing. The amount of detail that goes into these puppets and the time spent on the movements of each limb creates an astonishingly life-like progression of movements. I watched a performance with Bunraku puppets in Foundations last year and afer the first few minutes you don't even notice the puppeteer because the movements of the puppets are so fluid and organic. It's truly amazing to watch. I would love to have a chance to watch a live performance.
I find this to be such a fascinating art form. I can acutally understand how long it takes to master the art form as it is a conglomerate of human movement, psychology and art, all translated through the control of a puppet. Those three elements are hard enough on their own.
And people say its hard to break in to stage managing...
It seems to me that a lot of the arts practiced in the East require a lot more patience than anything we do in the United States or in most of Europe. I can't imagine many people from the West taking the time to learn about the individual puppet expression.
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