Petit cirque à l’indienne show – Cie Kodama

Before the audience's very eyes, the puppeteer brings to life a small wooden troupe, animated with finesse and precision. With his fingertips, he brings to life a miniature universe where jugglers, acrobats on horseback, magicians and dancers meet, as in a small circus from somewhere else.

But the journey doesn't end there. A mysterious Rajput warrior appears to the sound of a drum, then a flute suddenly transports us to a faraway desert, where a snake charmer appears like a mirage.

In this musical and visual cabaret, each number reveals a feat: the juggler plays with his head, the rider and his horse reverse roles, the dancer seems almost alive… So many tableaux in turn funny, surprising and fascinating.

Without words, the show leaves plenty of room for images, sounds and the imagination. A poetic and enchanting interlude, which draws young and old into a reverie full of colors and sensations.

Legend has it that the kathputli puppets originated from the wooden carvings on the throne of an insomniac king. Every night, these sculptures came to life, dancing and performing acrobatics to entertain the sleepless ruler. Night after night, day after day, on the nomadic roads of Rajasthan, kathputli puppets have endured through the centuries (some clues date the origins of this itinerant theater back to the 1st century BC!) Even today, Bhatt puppeteers continue to perform their acts with breathtaking dexterity.

If these puppets continue to fascinate, it's first and foremost for their extraordinary beauty. We admire the carving in soft mango wood, the painted faces, the brightly colored costumes, the fine fabrics, the glittering jewels… A visual and musical cabaret.

In kathputli, threads are attached to various points on the doll's body and wound directly onto the fingers of the manipulator. This is a rare technique. The precision and suppleness of its movements give the puppets an astonishing liveliness.