Silence followed by a soft click transformed the barren room into a garden illuminated solely by the moon. A traditional Chinese puppet floats across the garden, her large red tassel gently swaying across her chest. Her long white sleeves cascade down her body like water trickling along a riverbed. The dangling sequins on her dress reflect the moonlight as brightly as a school of silver fish gliding through the sea. It is hardly noticeable that a woman stands below controlling the puppet with deliberate grace.
The puppeteer is Hua Hua Zhang, a guest artist at the University of Connecticut, and received her masters from UConn’s Puppetry Program.
“It’s very exciting for me when I come here and the puppetry program always wants me to teach students,” said Zhang, “I share the technique, this is my art, my country’s style art and the more we share it with Americans, the more it blends together and we bridge art.”
Currently the artistic director of Visual Expressions located in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, Zhang explains her freedom as, “I can do what I really want to do, express myself. I have my own voice.” In China government approval is still needed to perform shows according to Zhang.
Studying the art of Chinese Rod Puppetry since she was 14, Zhang spent many years learning basic movement, technique and performance.
Raised by courageous Chinese parents, Zhang’s wishes to perform were respected despite traditional Chinese expectations that women be conservative and shy away from public things. Zhang said her parents encouraged her to go on an adventure.
In 1996 Zhang moved to the United States to study design with Bart Roccoberton Jr., the director of UConn’s program. In China Zhang was a performer and not allowed to direct or design puppets. In China it was expected that performers preformed and designers designed, there was no overlap. Since graduating, Zhang has created several shows that blend Eastern and Western styles.
Her current productions include, Butterfly Dreams and East Meets West among others. Zhang’s shows combine Eastern and Western traditions and focus on the need for balance. “We’ve lost balance and family, we have so many wonderful things but we don’t have personal connections to family and love. I wanted my productions to show love coming back, balance, harmony, no fighting,” said Zhang.
These productions are being presented in various venues in the New York, Boston and the Philadelphia area. Butterfly Dreams was also preformed at the 13th Worldwide Festival of Puppet Theatre in Charleville-Mezieres, France.
For more information on Zhang's production company Visual Expressions:
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