Shadow Play: the art of Light and shadow

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In the latter half of the 18th century, a form of drama arose in France called French light and Shadow “which caused a great sensation when it was staged in paris and marseilles This was an artistic form created on the basis of the Chinese shadow play, introduced into France by missionaries. Interestingly, for the 2004 China-france Year of Culture. Chinese artists introduced to france a new shadow play The Dance of Shadows. It would be apt to say that the art of shadow play has been a witness and bridge to cultural exchange between the two countries.

The shadow play is an indigenous form of drama in China. In the 13thcentury it was introduced into West Asia, and by the 1 8th century it had spread to other parts of the world. Famed German poet Goethe(1749-1832) praised it, and the great 20th-century artist Charlie Chaplin(1889-1977) was inspired by it when he made his legendary silent films

The shadow play is in fact the worlds earliest”movie art”with the accompaniment of human voice.It first appeared more than 2，000 years ago,and by the song Dynasty this art had become highly developed with its main artistic form already established At the time，traditional Chinese drama had not yet developed，but shadow play could already reproduce the entire lengthy story of the Three Kingdoms.It was performed in many cities and became important entertainment at festivals.During the Ming Dynasty，in the city of Beijing alone，there were dozens of shadow play troupes.It is still populartoday，and its historical success has given enlightenment to the development of the modern movie.

The making of shadow-play puppets requires choice materials and skills.First donkey hide has to be found to make the heads limbs and torsos of the human figures，which are then painted and connected into full puppets using thread and links.during the performance，light shines on the human figures，whose silhouettes are reflected on a screen.Through their movements，they vividly act out stories, creating a world of imagination mixed with reality which delights both the eyes and hearts of the audience.

The appeal of shadow play lies not only in its puppet-making but more in its performance. Several performers stand behind a white screen, operating puppets of different appearances, while relating the story or singing to the accompaniment of percussions or stringed musical instruments. Shadow plays from Huaxian County of Shaanxi Province are the best known, with local people even giving it another descriptive name as a”Five-person event because five performers are involved in each performance. The giansheng is responsible for singing the different roles of a play; the gianshou operates the movements of the puppets; the zuocao is responsible for beating the gongs, bowls and percussions; the shangdanfor playing the two-stringed fiddle and trumpet; and the xiadang for playing the banhu fiddle and trombone, as well as assisting the gianshou. These five people keep busy doing their particular work offstage to put on the performanceHow good a shadow play is depends on the singing and the handling of the puppets. It is no simple matter at all to operate the puppets using five bamboosticks. It needs deft fingers on the performers’ part, and a good puppeteer can dazzle the audience with the intriguing movements of the puppets.