A Chicago Salute to the Lunar New Year

Exact numbers vary, but there are well over a billion people around the world who celebrate the Lunar New Year.  China’s so identified with the festival that it’s often referred to as the Chinese New Year.  But Indonesia, the Philippines, Viet Nam, South Korea and Malaysia are among the legion of countries who include it as a public holiday.  Thanks to Eighth Blackbird and the Chicago Artist Workshop (CAW), Chicago caught a little of the Lunar New Year flavor Saturday night with a delightful live performance by Tom Lee in CAW’s Rockwell Ave. studio.   

A puppeteer whose interests, training and creative work are grounded in Asian traditions, Lee’s The Great Zodiac Animal Race used an ancient form of storytelling, the shadow play, to give his virtual audience a fanciful explanation of how the animals associated with the Chinese zodiac found their way onto the legendary wheel. 

Deceivingly simple on the surface, tremendous skill is needed to make puppet figures “appear to walk, dance, fight, nod and laugh”.  And, in the case of The Great Zodiac Animal Race, swim.  Using pre-recorded imagery to help with transitional breaks in the story line, most of the 30-minute performance was conducted live with the camera’s focus on capturing the exploits of the beautifully intricate puppets designed by Jae Rin Son.  To understand the intense concentration needed to maneuver the cut outs and give the narrative its action, occasional shots of Lee intently manipulating the elegant cut outs were included.   

Accustomed as we’ve become to the mesmerizing brilliance of 21^st century animation and cinema, it was surprisingly effortless to accept and even relish this early form of storytelling.   One that appeals to audiences of any age because of the way it frees the imagination and lets it participate in moving the action forward.

Composed by Tatsu Aoki, the musical score that surrounded and helped drive the race was full of its own drama and beauty.  Dredging up notions of pageantry, timeless wonder and far-flung fantasy, it carried you to a “once upon a time place long long ago when there were no cellphones or calendars”. 

Following The Great Zodiac Animal Race, Lee and fellow puppeteer K.T. Shivak switched from shadow puppetry to a short sequence using puppets that took on a more life-like form.  The puppeteer, as Lee did here, sits on a small wheeled cart with the puppet’s legs attached to his feet while he manipulates its head and arms with his hands.  Shivak was the human carrying and controlling the head of a great ox.  Because the style of puppets used in the Far East enjoy much more mobility of movement, it’s common for the puppeteer to be seen by audiences.

In the performance’s post-show interview, Lee explained the process of creating a program like The Great Zodiac Animal Race; giving insight into the amount of sophisticated multi-layered talent needed to bring gems like it to life.     

CAW’s series featuring Chicago’s wealth of artistic virtuosity continues March 10^th with saxophonist Nick Zoulek in the limelight.  For more information, visit:  https://www.eighthblackbird.org/chicago-artists-workshop/