Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Developed during the Konbaung period, it was so influential that it became the fore-
runner to
zat pwe
as later performed by actors rather than marionettes. As with dance-
drama, the genre's 'golden age' began with the Mandalay kingdoms of the late 18th cen-
tury and ran through to the advent of cinema in the 1930s.
The people of Myanmar have great respect for an expert puppeteer. Some marionettes
may be manipulated by a dozen or more strings. The marionette master's standard reper-
toire requires a troupe of 28 puppets including Thagyamin (king of the gods); a Myanmar
king, queen, prince and princess; a regent; two court pages; an old man and an old wo-
man; a villain; a hermit; four ministers; two clowns; one good and one evil
nat;
a Brah-
min astrologer; two ogres; a
zawgyi
(alchemist); a horse; a monkey; a
makara
(mythical
sea serpent); and an elephant.
It's rare to see marionette theatre outside tourist venues in Yangon, Mandalay or
Bagan.
The Illusion of Life: Burmese Marionettes
by Ma Thanegi gives readers a glimpse of the
'wit, spirit and style' of this traditional Burmese performance art.
Music
Much of classical Myanmar music, played loud the way the
nat
like it, features strongly
in any
pwe.
Its repetitive, even harsh, harmonies can be hard on Western ears at first;
Myanmar scales are not 'tempered', as Western scales have been since Bach. Traditional
Myanmar music is primarily two dimensional, in the sense that rhythm and melody
provide much of the musical structure, while repetition is a key element. Subtle shifts in
rhythm and tonality provide the modulation usually supplied by the harmonic dimension
in Western music.
TRADITIONAL BURMESE MUSIC CDS
Mah
Mahagiitá Harp & Vocal Music from Burma(2003; Smithsonian Folkways)
Mus
Music o
ic of Na
f Nat P
t Pwe: F
: Folk & P
olk & Pop Mus
p Music o
ic of My
f Myanmar (2007; Sublime Frequencies)
Pat W
t Waiing The Magic Drum Circle of Burma(1998; Shanachie)
U K
U Ko K
o Ko Performs on the Burmese Piano(1995; Ummus)
Variious a
us artiists Burma: Traditional Music(2009; Air Mail Music)
