Puppet art. high doll art

Puppet Theatre- one of the varieties of puppet type of spatio-temporal art, which includes cartoon and animation film art, pop puppet art and art puppet television programs. In puppet theater performances, the appearance and physical actions of the characters are depicted and indicated by three-dimensional, semi-dimensional and flat puppets. Puppet actors are usually controlled and driven by people, puppeteer actors, and sometimes automatic mechanical or mechanical-electrical-electronic devices. There are three main types of puppet theaters: 1). Riding puppet theater(glove, gape-cane), controlled from below. Actors-puppeteers in theaters of this type are usually hidden from the audience by a screen, but it also happens that they are not hidden and are visible to the audience in their entirety or half of their height.2. Grassroots puppet theater(puppet puppets), controlled from above with the help of threads, rods or wires. Actors-puppeteers in theaters of this type are most often also hidden from the audience by an overhead curtain or a hedge. In some cases, puppeteers, as in riding puppet theaters, are visible to the audience in their entirety or half their height.3. Middle Puppet Theater puppets controlled at the level of puppeteers. Middle puppets are voluminous, controlled by actors-puppeteers either from the side or from the inside of large-sized puppets, inside of which there is an actor-puppeteer. Among the middle puppets are, in particular, puppets of the Shadow Theater. In such theaters, puppeteers are not visible to the audience, as they are behind a screen onto which shadows from flat or non-flat puppets are projected. Recently, more and more often, puppet theater is a stage interaction of puppeteers with puppets (the actors “play openly”, that is, they are not hidden from the audience by a screen or any other object). In the 20th century, the beginning of this interaction was laid by S. V. Obraztsov in the same pop miniature in which two characters acted: a baby named Tyapa and his father. There are common features of puppet theaters, such as the compositional construction of the dramatic basis of performances: exposition, plot, climax, denouement (or finale without denouement). In addition, common genres are widely used, realistic and artistically conventional forms, pantomimic and non-pantomimic versions of stage actions, etc., etc. The first news of the existence of a puppet theater in Russia dates back to 1636, recorded by the German traveler Adam Olearius. One of the most famous puppet theaters in Russia is the State Academic Central Puppet Theatre. S. V. Obraztsova

History of puppet theaters

The history of the puppet theater goes back to ancient times. Ancient people believed in various gods, devils and sacred animals. To offer prayers to these gods, people began to make their images. These were dolls made of stone, clay, bone, wood of various sizes. Dances were arranged around them, they were carried on a stretcher, carried on the backs of elephants and chariots. Subsequently, due to various devices, the puppets representing the object of worship were forced to raise their arms or paws, open and close their eyes, nod their heads and bare their teeth. Gradually, these spectacles became similar to modern theatrical performances. With the help of dolls, legends were played out, folk tales and satirical scenes were played; in European countries in the Middle Ages, dolls depicted the creation of the world.

There were no state puppet theaters in Rus'. Wandering puppeteers gave small performances at fairs, in city courtyards, on boulevards. Under the loud sounds of a hurdy-gurdy, the puppeteer showed a short story about Petrushka from behind a small screen. The life of folk puppeteers was hard and not much different from the life of ordinary beggars. After the performance, the actor-puppeteer took off his hat and handed it to the audience so that those who wished to throw copper kopecks into it.

Dolls similar to the Russian Petrushka were also in other countries. They all portrayed a long-nosed, noisy bully. They had different names, for example, in England the doll was called Punch, and in France it was Polichinel, Pulcinella in Italy, two heroes in Germany were Kasperle and Hanswurst, in Turkey the bully was called Karagoz, and in Czechoslovakia - Kasparek.

Types of dolls

In the modern world, there are puppet theaters in almost all countries. They use three types of puppets for performances:

• dolls driven by threads;
• hand puppets;
• puppets on canes.

When using puppets on strings, the actor-puppeteer is located on a raised platform behind the stage and holds a vaga in his hands.

Definition 1

vaga- a special device consisting of two or three crossed sticks with threads attached to them.

At the same time, the lower ends of the threads are connected to the doll in the area of ​​​​the head and back, tied to her arms, shoulders, knees and feet. A doll usually has $10-20$ of threads, but sometimes their number reaches $40$ of threads. When swinging the stick, from which the threads go to the knees of the doll, she begins to move her legs, walk and even dance. When the thread attached to the back is pulled, the doll bows. Puppets of such a system are also called puppets, which is not entirely true, because it is customary to call any theatrical puppet in many countries. It is more correct to call these dolls - dolls on strings.

Another system of puppets is puppets that are worn on the hand like gloves. In this case, the doll's head is put on the index finger, one hand on the middle finger, and the other hand on the thumb. Such dolls are often called parsley in our country, which is also not entirely true, since there are dolls of this system in different countries. Their correct name is glove puppets or finger puppets.

The actor-puppeteer plays with puppets on canes from behind a screen. Such a doll is held by a central stick that runs through the entire doll. The head and shoulders of the doll are attached to the stick. The actor controls the puppet's arms with thin sticks, which are attached to the puppet's elbows or hands. The sticks are invisible to the audience, they are hidden in the clothes of the toy.

Puppets on strings and glove puppets on fingers have existed for many hundreds of years in almost all countries. Until the beginning of the 20th century, puppets on sticks existed only in the East, mainly in China and Indonesia. In Russia, puppets on a cane appeared for the first time among puppeteers-artists Efimovs.

Modern puppet theaters

Remark 1

State puppet theaters in Russia were created only after the 1917 revolution.$

Puppet theaters stage folk tales, as well as plays written by playwrights. Most puppet theaters are for children, but some have performances for adults who love puppet theater as much as children.

Puppet theaters are the first step in introducing children to theatrical art. They do not just give joy, teach to understand the art of the theater, form an artistic taste, teach the perception of the world around.

Puppet show

Puppets and puppeteers

Puppet Theatre- one of the varieties of puppet type of spatio-temporal art, which includes cartoon and non-cartoon animated film art, pop puppet art and art puppet television programs. In puppet theater performances, the appearance and physical actions of the characters are depicted and / or indicated, as a rule, by voluminous, semi-voluminous (bas-relief or high-relief) and flat puppets (actor puppets) Actor puppets are usually controlled and driven by people, puppeteer actors, and sometimes automatic mechanical or mechanical-electrical-electronic devices. In the latter case, actor puppets are called robot puppets. It should be noted that the phrase "puppet theater" is incorrect and offends the professional dignity of puppeteers, since the adjective "puppet" is associated with the concept of "fake". It is correct to say: “puppet theater”, by the way, this is how all professional animation theaters are called.

There are three main types of puppet theaters:

1. Theater of riding puppets (glove puppets, large cane puppets and puppets of other designs), controlled from below. Actors-puppeteers in theaters of this type are usually hidden from the audience by a screen, but it also happens that they are not hidden and are visible to the audience in their entirety or half of their height.

2. Theater of grassroots puppets (puppet puppets), controlled from above with the help of threads, rods or wires. Actors-puppeteers in theaters of this type are most often also hidden from the audience, but not with a screen, but with an upper curtain or a hedge. In some cases, puppeteers, as in riding puppet theaters, are visible to the audience in their entirety or half of their height.

3. The theater of puppets of middle (not riding and not grassroots) puppets controlled at the level of puppeteers. Middle puppets are voluminous, controlled by actors-puppeteers either from the side or from the inside of large-sized puppets, inside of which there is an actor-puppeteer. Among the middle puppets are, in particular, puppets of the Shadow Theater. In such theaters, puppeteers are not visible to the audience, as they are behind a screen onto which shadows from flat or non-flat puppets are projected. Puppet puppets are used as middle puppet actors, controlled from behind the puppets by puppeteers, visible or not visible to the audience. Either glove puppets or actor puppets of other designs. How does this happen, for example, in the well-known pop miniature by S. V. Obraztsov with a puppet baby named Tyapa (obraztsov’s glove doll put on with one hand) and his father, whose role is played by Obraztsov himself.

Recently, more and more often, puppet theater is a stage interaction of puppeteers with puppets (the actors “play openly”, that is, they are not hidden from the audience by a screen or any other object). In the 20th century, the beginning of this interaction was laid by S. V. Obraztsov in the same pop miniature in which two characters acted: a baby named Tyapa and his father. But in fact, such interactions of actors-puppeteers and puppet-actors led to a blurring of the boundaries between puppet and non-puppet types of spatio-temporal art. Professional puppeteers still urge not to abuse the "third genre", but to use mainly the expressive means inherent in the puppet theater.

It should be noted that the specific identity of the art of puppet theater and puppet spatio-temporal art in general is formed not only and not so much due to puppet actors, but due to a single set of many features. Moreover, some features are characteristic of puppet art, while others are common to puppet art and all or some other types of space-time art. For example, such common features as the compositional construction of the dramatic basis of performances: exposition, plot, climax, denouement (or finale without denouement). In addition, general genres, realistic and conventional artistic forms, pantomimic and non-pantomimic versions of stage actions, etc., are widely used.

Story

The art of puppeteers is very old - different countries arose their own, which later became traditional, types of puppets and types of performances. There is evidence of the existence of ritual mysteries in Egypt, during which women carried the doll of Osiris. In ancient Greece, puppet theater existed during the Hellenistic era. The origins of the puppet theater are in pagan rituals, games with materialized symbols of the gods. The mention of playing dolls is found in Herodotus, Xenophon, Aristotle, Horace, Marcus Aurelius, Apuleius. However, puppet shows, relatively speaking, of the variety type and the art of puppet theater came to Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome with wandering groups of puppeteers from Ancient India (land and sea routes through Ancient Iran) and Ancient China. (O. Tsekhnovitser, I. Eremin. Petrushka Theater. - Moscow-Leningrad.: Gosizdat, 1927)

History of puppet theater in Russia

The first news about the existence of a puppet theater in Russia dates back to 1636, recorded by the German traveler Adam Olearius.

In 1700, the first tour of puppeteers in Russia took place: one troupe traveled through the cities of Ukraine, and the second through the cities of the Volga to Astrakhan. In 1733, at the invitation of Anna Ivanovna, four puppet theaters from among the Italian comedians who arrived as part of the commedia dell'arte troupe worked in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

One of the most famous puppet theaters in Russia is.

Types of puppet theaters

puppet puppet

The variety of forms of performance in the puppet theater is determined by the variety of types of puppets and their control systems. There are puppet dolls, cane, glove, tablet. Dolls can range in size from a few centimeters to 2-3 meters.

The difference in the forms of performances is most often determined by the national traditions of the country, the tasks that are set for the actors by the director of the performance, as well as the relationship of puppets and actors with the artistic design of the performance.

The ability to reflect the bright traits of a person’s character, the persuasiveness of allegory, the figurative common noun characteristic of the art of puppet theater determine satirical puppet theater repertoire, and in a number of countries in Southeast Asia, heroic-pathetic performances.

nativity scene

A traditional Ukrainian Christmas puppet show performed in a two-story crib box, where the story of the birth of Christ was depicted on the upper level, and scenes from folk life were depicted on the lower level. The first vertepniks were bursaks-seminarians. The analogues of the nativity scene in Poland are a one-story shopka, in Belarus - a three-story batleyka. The word "nativity scene" means the cave in which Jesus Christ was born.

Puppet theaters of Southeast Asia

Puppet theater technique

• Vaga- a device for controlling a puppet puppet.

Types of dolls

• Puppet (including stock)
• Doll on a vertical gape
• Doll on a horizontal gape
• Gapite cane doll
• doll on canes
• Piglet doll
• Nativity scene
• Tablet (output) doll
• miming
• Shadow puppet (including Javanese)
• life puppet

Currently, mime dolls are especially popular in the USA, in Ukraine - piglet parsley and nativity scenes, in Europe - puppets. The use of a hatching doll among professionals is not welcome.(?)

The largest puppet theaters

Russia

• One of the most famous puppet theaters is the State Academic Central Puppet Theatre. S. V. Obraztsova
• Moscow Fairytale Theater
• Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Puppet Theater (one of two academic puppet theaters in Russia)
• Yaroslavl Puppet Theater

Ukraine

An academic theater school is developing in Ukraine:

• Department of Animation Theatre, Kharkiv State University of Arts. Kotlyarevsky,
• Department of Puppet Theater of the Kyiv National University of Theater and Cinema. Karpenko-Kary.
• Dnepropetrovsk Theater College

Courses have also been recruited at other universities, such as in Lviv.

Western Europe

Puppet theater in psychology

In the 1990s, I. Ya. Medvedeva and T. L. Shishova created a psychological correction technique called "dramatic psychoelevation", designed for children with behavioral and communication difficulties. The main tool of this technique is the puppet theater.

Notes

Literature

• Peretz V. N. Puppet theater in Rus' (Historical essay) // Yearbook of the Imperial Theaters. - Applications. - Prince. 1. - St. Petersburg, 1895. - S. 85-185.
• Shafranyuk V. A. Puppet spatio-temporal art

see also

Puppet theaters in Russia

Theater directions
Musical Theatre
Genres
Theater schools
Directions in theater
Theater Varieties
Chamber theater
Miscellaneous	theater schools theatrical terminology theatrical roles theater critics

The image of a doll has fascinated people for centuries. Rag spins without faces protected newborn peasant children.

The impudent actors of the puppet theater could, with their sonorous voices, squeak at the fairground what a person did not dare to say.

Porcelain beauties who arrived from abroad became trendsetters in the provinces. With a doll, a person shared fears and hopes, sang about it in works of art ... It was quite possible to assume that sooner or later it would become art itself. And so it happened.

The human-like doll began to develop and live an independent life, ceasing to serve rituals and even children's games. Now all over the world, as part of the "big" fine arts, the art of the author's art doll is fruitfully developing. The doll has become an art object, an installation. Like hundreds of her sisters in literature and cinema, from Galatea to Suok, she has acquired a soul and a non-utilitarian, impractical, but undeniable value.

Author's doll

The concept of an author's doll is still rather vague, and the terms denoting this phenomenon are only being established. In the West, for example, there is a distinction between an art doll (artdoll) and the so-called "dressed sculpture" (dressed sculpture). There are still a number of conditions that are mandatory for all: first of all, the uniqueness of the product or an extremely limited edition (not exceeding one and a half dozen copies), handmade and high quality workmanship.

In Russia, puppet art (in the original sense of the word) arose quite recently. The first author's dolls are considered to be the works of the artist Elena Yazykova, made in 1987. But in just twenty years, it has developed rapidly and began to arouse the respect and increased interest of Western colleagues (often noting, by the way, in the works of our compatriots the “mysterious Russian soul” and the lack of a European desire for pure decorativeness).

Now our country is experiencing a real "puppet boom" - specialized magazines are published, puppet design schools, museums and galleries are actively working, puppet festivals, exhibitions, salons are invariably held with great success ... And untoy passions are raging.

From what, from what...

If only you knew from what kind of rubbish... And artists do not disdain rubbish: what just does not become material for the manufacture of an author's doll! Some of the craftsmen work in the technique of "sculptural textiles", when a needle turns a smooth fabric into face reliefs with complex and bizarre facial expressions. Another, using a whole arsenal of metal racks, sculpts his characters from baked or self-hardening plastics: the former need to be brought to condition in a conventional oven, without overexposure and without leaving the material “raw”,

the second freeze themselves in the air for several hours. But most of all, technical skills, craftsmanship and patience require working with porcelain ... And amazing wooden fantasies? And steampunk works worthy of Hoffmann's pen with the most complex mechanisms? What about “mixed media”, where everything is combined with everything? The sizes of the dolls vary from gigantic (comparable to human height) to tiny (such works cannot be seen properly without a magnifying glass,

and to perform it, you need a truly jewelry technique - it is not uncommon for professional jewelers to make a puppet miniature, and their masterpieces for some collector become more expensive than gold and diamonds).

But whatever the chosen technique, the problems of puppeteers are similar - you need to master the skills of a sculptor, artist, tailor, hairdresser, make-up artist ... The list of professions is endless, from a furniture maker to a watchmaker, because no one knows in advance what will be needed for complete harmony next doll. Musical instrument?

Tiny decoration? Knight armour? Bicycle, glasses, umbrella? But true craftsmanship requires the manufacture of all (!) Details by hand. Not to mention the fact that the doll, as an art object, incorporates the author's knowledge of music and literature, painting and cinema...

Puppeteers make fun of themselves: "We are crazy people!" - and warn beginners: "You still have to look for parts in the garbage dumps ..."

Another dimension

Each doll gallery is a special universe with its own canons of beauty. The whole variety of puppet art is presented in the Vakhtanov Puppet Gallery by Irina Myzina in the Central House of Artists.

Luxurious classic ladies, avant-garde, author's, more like art objects, are presented in the permanent exhibition. The Gallery of Karina Shanshieva wonderfully combines painting and author's dolls; Unfortunately, the gallery currently does not have a permanent residence.

The gallery of Varvara Skripkina in the city of white nights has its own face and indescribable Petersburg sophistication. The most powerful puppet movement has unfolded on the other side of the country - works of artists from Yekaterinburg, Perm, Novosibirsk, where original galleries and associations of artists operate, are of constant interest at exhibitions.

Dolls - Actors

To get to the puppet exhibition is to open a new world. Similar to ours exactly to the extent that the dolls "are so similar to people" - that is, very, very remotely.

Worlds change worlds. Here, aristocratic dolls shine with pearls, gold embroidery and secular indifference on porcelain faces (it is worth taking a look, for example, at the works of Alexandra Kukinova). And here the Boschian fantasies of Dima PZh seem to change their appearance, spread, evaporate and take off, as soon as you turn away.

The kind and bright characters of Olga Yegupets invite you to smile and take a deep breath. Characteristic dolls, doll-characters of Elena Kunina, look intently and insist on a dialogue, soft wisdom emanates from the works of Tatyana Eleva and Linda Furnish-Kolman.

Baby dolls doze in the palm of the master. Literary characters and movie heroes come to life, politicians and actors suddenly become closer and more human in miniature. And there is no limit to amazement before each next work ... Exhibitions are very different in scale and, to be honest, the technical level of the works presented. Everyone gathers on some, from pros to beginners, to get to others is a sign of elitism. Every autumn in Moscow, the international exhibition “The Art of the Doll” shines, which brings together the best representatives of the doll world. On its site, dolls and art objects from 26 countries of the world are presented. Author's projects, museum collections, collections from private collections are shown to the audience by the organizers of the world's largest exhibition.

And the noisy cheerful exhibition Moscow Fair pleases the viewer in the spring. The "Petersburg Mirages" in the Varvara Skripkina Gallery remained in my memory for a long time - all the images of the Northern capital, from sphinxes and fishermen on the embankment to the White Night incarnate. And what a firework of wit greeted the visitors of the exhibition “Damn, those that have a bow on the side”! Just imagine what Ekarny Babai or Kuzkin’s mother looks like and other funny abusive expressions: “Grow everything with cornflowers”, “Ezhkin cat”, “Blakha-fly”, “Red-shameless”, “Vigorous louse”, “Eperny ballet” , "Horse in a coat" and others.

Entities spawned!

Many genres - many meanings. An interior, decorative doll is often created to match the surroundings of a particular house, in its colors and with its character. She is the decoration of the home, and its keeper, a kind of brownie, and the interlocutor of the owners - everyone who has dolls will tell you how the expressions of their faces and even their position in space change. Fans of the "terrible doll" believe that art should "not caress, but excite", seek aesthetics in death, pain and decay ... It is worth looking at the best examples of the genre (performed, for example, by artists such as Julien Martinez or Repuncre), to understand - there is its own truth and its own beauty in these zombie girls, dead brides and bloody little animals. It seems that when you see these works, you are especially acutely aware of how far the author's doll has gone from a child's toy, but that was not the case.

«... Children look at Julien's dolls with conspiratorial curiosity - they would love to take them home and play with them”, - writes artist Maria Streltsova in the Puppet Master magazine. Do not draw a line between puppetry and play. And is it worth trying?

In recent years, a portrait doll has become considered an elite gift, by definition unique, made by a master to order for someone close to him (even stars pay tribute to fashion, for example, fellow musicians gave a miniature Helavisa to the soloist of the Melnitsa folk group for her thirtieth birthday). Of course, it is not always possible to capture the “zest” of character in a doll, so a surprise can be both pleasant and depressing ... However, culture moves along winding paths: from a charm doll, which must certainly be faceless, so as not to jinx it, do no harm - to a doll with the face of your child or loved one. It seems that science fiction writers and storytellers still have a huge field of undeveloped plots ahead. There are costume doll, baby doll, character doll...

They are real!

Do not be surprised that artists consider their creations endowed with a mind, a soul. How many stories on the verge of mysticism about how the doll showed character during the manufacturing process! It was conceived by one character - came out by another. Smiling in the morning, frowns in the evening. Does not want to occupy a certain place in the house or successfully turn out in photographs.

Doesn't want to be sold - or, on the contrary, "rushes" into someone's hands... There are hundreds of such stories. They are alive - that says it all. It is no coincidence that in the "doll's passport" (and they must be given to the buyer upon sale), along with the name, materials and number of copies, the "year of birth" is indicated. The only way.

Of course, as in all ages, many artists are faced with a choice between free expression and commercial success. “Lovely” and “kind” works are bought up much more readily than frightening, mystical ones that incorporate the author’s thoughts about the dark sides of the universe. But this once again suggests that puppet art is Art with a capital letter, with all its inherent conflicts and pitfalls. So, he has a long way ahead of him. Whatever the sought-after genres, styles and images, one thing remains unchanged: the philosophical richness of this art.

Not without reason in the ranks of his admirers are not only "mere mortals", but also many famous people who collect dolls or create them themselves. At the exhibitions you can see the works of famous musicians, writers, politicians. And the proceeds from sales usually go to charity.

And this is wonderful: the doll, even after becoming an art object and leaving the children's room for a museum stand, continues to bring happiness to kids who really need it.

The one who once came to the puppet world usually does not change him, his strange riddles and boundless fun. This means that puppetry is preparing many more surprises for viewers, collectors, and the masters themselves.

Czech puppetry has a long tradition, it is appreciated by UNESCO and inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. You will come across carved wooden dolls and puppets in almost every souvenir shop. Did you know that even today you can visit a modern puppet theater performance? The Czech Republic has nine professional puppet theaters, about one hundred independent troupes and about three hundred amateur groups.

Czech puppets in the past

Czech puppetry is an important cultural and social phenomenon that saw a massive expansion in the 19th century. However, in different regions of today's Czech Republic, it began to spread about a century ago.

The puppeteers, wandering from city to city, played in the Czech language and thus helped raise the level of one's native language among ordinary people. Gradually, a tradition of puppeteer families emerged, in which the art of puppet theater was inherited as an ancestral craft. Puppeteers made puppets with their own hands, which were based on sculptures. The puppeteer himself set all the puppets in motion and spoke for them. Thus, a unique style emerged, in which the clumsy movements of puppets on strings were compensated for by stylized voicing. A typical comic character of Czech puppeteers is the jester Kašpárek, the devil, the king and the princess. Performances in the puppet theater in the past reflected folk traditions, today the puppet theater is dedicated in particular to a children's audience.

The Czech tradition of puppet theater is currently manifested in two ways - folk or amateur And professional puppetry presented in theaters and independent stages. Puppetry in the second half of the 20th century was embodied in short TV tales for children, which are today among the most popular among young viewers.

Get to know the dolls

Visit one of the puppet museums or come see a puppet show.

Performances are mostly in Czech without translation and are intended mainly for children. You will find puppet theaters, for example, in or in, where they even built a separate theater building in which they play only puppet shows.

in in Chrudime you will see both historical and modern Czech and foreign dolls, and you can also try to act as a puppeteer in the museum's playroom. The exhibition features puppets of nomadic puppeteers and puppet shows, family puppet theaters and decorations by Czech artists. The overseas part of the exhibition features shadow puppets from Indonesia, several puppets from India, Japan, China or Burma, as well as a Vietnamese water puppet.

You can plunge into the world of puppets in the town of Prachatice (. The first part of the museum exhibition is dedicated to the history of Czech puppets from the oldest puppeteers, family and amateur theaters to the professional stage. In addition to the traditional devil and jester puppets, you will meet puppets made according to the sketches of leading Czech artists The collections are owned m) in Prague.

The tradition of puppetry in the Czech Republic is supported by a number of festivals. Chrudim Puppet Festival (Loutkářská Chrudim) has existed since 1951 and is the oldest of its kind in Europe. Another example - International Puppet Arts Festival in Prague or Spectaculo Interesse International Festival in Ostrava.