Theater casts spotlight on traditional shadow puppets

Would you like to create a shadow puppet (piying) for your performance? Tianqiao Acrobatic Theater of Beijing is spearheading a revival of the cut-out shapes.

Visitors to the theater in Beijing have an opportunity to learn all about the figures and see them walk, dance, fight and laugh by themselves.

Displayed on a beautifully decorated stage, dozens of a century-old silhouetted figures come to life in shadow puppeteers' hands.

They perform demonstrations with detailed stories and help visitors learn production techniques and acting skills of shadow play.

Shadow puppetry, which has a 500-year history in the capital, is a traditional Chinese performing art that uses flat, movable figures to create the impression of people and objects.

Using only a straight knife, the puppet makers carve subtle, lifelike figures from animal hide.

The traditional art became popular as early as the Song Dynasty (AD 420-479), it was gradually pushed out of the limelight by modern audio-visual media such as television and movies.

Many shadow play troupes have disbanded, and many of the most talented artists have died. Some types of plays and the art of performance are near extinction in some places.

Lu Baogang, a fifth-generation descendent of piying's creators who has decades of experience as a shadow puppet performer, says that China must return to its traditional artforms to maintain its special cultural characteristics.