Glove puppetry
Glove puppetry (Chinese: 布袋戲; pinyin: bùdàixì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pò͘-tē-hì) is a type of opera using cloth puppets that originated during the 17th century in Quanzhou or Zhangzhou of China's Fujian province, and historically practised in the Min Nan-speaking areas such as Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, the Guangdong region of Chaoshan, and other parts of southern China. It had since established itself more firmly and contemporarily as a popular art form in Taiwan.
The puppet's head uses wood carved into the shape of a hollow human head, but aside from the head, palms, and feet, which are made of wood, the puppet's torso and limbs consist entirely of cloth costumes. At the time of the performance, a gloved hand enters the puppet's costume and makes it perform. In previous years the puppets used in this type of performance strongly resembled "cloth sacks," hence the name, which literally means "cloth bag opera."
Glove puppetry performances
Glove puppetry (pò͘-tē-hì) performances, similar to some types of Chinese opera, are divided into a first half and a second half show. During the first half, known as the "show platform" (戲台), the audience is shown a demonstration by a master puppeteer on the stage. The second half consists of the puppet master, the orchestra, and the spoken parts. Several key points of a show to be appreciated include: the dexterity of the master puppeteer's manipulation of the puppet, the accompaniment of the orchestra, and the poetic spoken parts of the voice actors. With few exceptions, from traditional pò͘-tē-hì to modern performances, human vocal music and operatic singing is rarely heard.
Banco de Gaia
Banco de Gaia is an electronic music band from England, formed in 1989 by Toby Marks (born 1964, South London).
The music of Banco de Gaia is best categorized as ambient dub, but Marks works to cross genres, often using Arabic and Middle Eastern samples against a bass heavy reggae, rock, or trance rhythm to produce deeply textured tracks that progress layer upon layer.
History
In 1978, Marks began his musical career as a drummer in a heavy metal band.
Marks moved to Portugal in 1986 and played Beatles music for tourists. He first delved into electronic music in 1989, when he bought a digital sampler. The first tune he recorded on it was called "Maxwell House."
Having cut his teeth on the early 90s Ambient Dub compilations, in 1994 he released his first studio album Maya on Planet Dog records, which was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize on its release. It was followed in 1995 by the critically acclaimed Last Train to Lhasa. Both albums reached No1 in the UK independent charts and featured in the national album chart top 40. In the following decade Banco De Gaia released Live at Glastonbury, Big Men Cry, The Magical Sounds of Banco De Gaia, Igizeh and You Are Here.
