Puppetry
Show
On
January 25 and 26, 2002, Worldways Children's Museum
hosted a Chinese New Year Celebration. The
festivities included different puppetry shows
and a puppetry workshop, presented by Oregon's Dragon
Arts Studio.
Titled "Images of China", the puppetry show
mixes puppetry with music, humor, elegance, and
special effects to create an engaging show while
giving the audience an insight into Chinese folklore
and culture. Each 45-minute performance features five
independent stories: The Crane and the Tortoise, Old
Man and the Monkeys, A Donkey's Best Friend, The Super
Duper Ping Pong Match, and The Dancer. The 45-minute
puppetry workshops, led by Mr. Zhengli Xu,
taught participants how to make puppets.
Puppetry
Workshop
Chinese
puppetry has more than one thousand years of history.
It started decades ago as cultural ritual, and later
became a form of entertainment to the royal family and
common public. Since then, Chinese puppetry has
developed tremendously over the years. It has combined
artistic expression with detailed hand craft,
traditional Chinese Opera movements and music,
well-engineered mechanical puppet parts and western
technology to tell the story. Images of China mixes
puppetry with music, elegance, humor and special
effects to create a beautiful event. Chinese rod
puppetry, seldom seen here in America, is an ancient
art form revered throughout China. 
Kr
Xu, Yuqin Wang, and Zhengli Xu
Dragon Arts Studio
Dragon
Art Studio is the one of the finest of Chinese rod
puppetry group within the United States. Dragon Art
Studio has performed in various theaters, schools,
libraries and museums since 1996 and the response has
been great.
Yuqin
Wang and happy audience
Yuqin
Wang is an outstanding artist and her stage career
started early. By the time she was nineteen she had
already sung and acted in scores of classical Beijing
operas. Beginning in 1964, she directed her artistic
energy toward puppetry. Through years of research and
experimentation she brought new excitement to puppetry
by weaving into it traditional opera techniques. She
has played the lead role in more than thirty puppet
shows, numerous movies and television programs,
perfecting the portrayal of countless personalities
and images. She has performed extensively overseas,
receiving critical praise everywhere. Awards she has
received include: Excellence in Performance Award
(Association of Art and Culture, Beijing), Best
Artistic Expression, and Children's Favorite Award
(both at the 11th international Festival of Puppetry,
Yugoslavia).
Zhengli
Xu
Zhengli
Xu has performed in Chinese Rod Puppetry for thirty
five years. Graduating from Beijing Puppetry Art
school, with a major in show production and direction,
he spent many years studying under old puppet masters
in China. Like Mrs. Wang, he has traveled to many
foreign countries to perform. With many years of
experience in puppetmaking, directing, performing and
stage designing, Xu has produced and performed a big
puppet production at The Interstate Firehouse Cultural
Center in September of 1999 and has achieved
remarkable success in this art work. 
(R
to L) Jeanne Fischer, Director, Worldways Children's
Museum, Board Directors Mr. and Mrs. Peter Tao and
Richard Tao
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