"The tiger devours the affable monk, students clash in a dramatic spear and sword fight, plates twirl without ever smashing, couples fall in and out of love... Chinese puppets perform a series of breath-taking scenes and plunge us into a world where the dazzling dexterity of the puppeteer blends with lightness and reverie.
Yeung Fai, the last member of a puppeteer dynasty (5 generations and several centuries of practice), is unrelenting in the pursuit of his art and has become a celebrated and unchallenged master of Chinese glove puppets, a virtuoso able to express most accurately the state of mind, temper and feelings of the characters he handles. In his luggage scattered on a makeshift stage, he carries along a legacy of puppets and an expertise that is both obsolete and unconventional. If the man seems lost in our contemporary world, the maestro is revealed when the suitcases open and spread their contents of improbable stories to the modern eye.
An all-around and multifaceted performance, these “puppet scenes” are designed for all audiences and all circumstances. Whether in public squares or café terraces, hospitals or living rooms, theatre stages or classrooms, Yeung Fai adjusts to the environment."
Yeung Fai
Born in China in 1964, Yeung Fai represents the fifth generation of a great family of Chinese puppeteers. Puppetry is one of the most ancient traditional folk arts in China. Yeung Fai was trained from the early age of four by his father, a Chinese master puppeteer who was a victim of the Cultural Revolution. This left indelible marks on the son’s art, who has created more than 25 shows across the world since 2001 and today lives in France and unrelentingly pursues it, now an unchallenged master of hand puppet handling and making.
Jan Vanek
is a genuine globe-trotting jazzman. A talented guitarist, self-taught player of multiple instruments, he draws his creativity and inspiration from his numerous encounters and travels around the world. A true virtuoso, he exudes a unique and communicative energy as soon as he starts playing one of his many instruments.