Dance Lola dance!

A recently held 10-day-long puppet festival in Jaipur, aimed at reviving the old art form of puppetry. Mumbai-based renowned puppeteer, Ramdas Padhye also  participated at the festival.

Padhye says, “The aim of the festival was to present old puppets in a contemporary style.” He adds, “It is very important to show the younger artists that follow the old, traditional puppetry that a lot more can be done with puppets now. I have specially created a rod puppet named ‘Dancing girl Lola.’ Also, the old puppeteers need to be shown how the old style puppet can evolve. Here, my dancing girl comes with her mixed bag of old and new tricks.”

The Jaipur Puppet Festival was divided into two parts. Many different kinds of puppets were  exhibited besides the many scheduled performances. “This was a one of its kind fair. I hope my performance was appreciate. I have learnt a lot from the other participating artists,” ends Padhye.