A Workshop with Koryū Nishikawa and Tom Lee
La MaMa and The Puppetry Guild of Greater New York present
A Workshop with Koryū Nishikawa and Tom Lee
workshop in kuruma ningyō history and technique
Join us to welcome a very special guest and master of one of Japan’s most unique puppetry traditions. Koryū Nishikawa V is the fifth generation master of Hachiōji Kuruma Ningyō, a 170-year-old puppet theater company. Kuruma ningyō or cart puppetry is a solo puppet manipulation form in which the performer sits on a small wheeled cart and operates a puppet’s head, hands and feet through remarkable innovation. The kuruma ningyō form is related to the three-person Bunraku style and part of the larger tapestry of Japanese puppetry that Koryū Nishikawa will briefly describe. Participants will be able to examine the puppets close up and try the cart puppets themselves in this special workshop.
Koryū-san’s student and collaborator Tom Lee and musician Yukio Tsuji will also join the workshop to give context.