Shasha Li, director, also works as a contemporary puppeteer. She graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 2011.
She received the award for “The Best Performance” twice from the 2nd and 4th Golden Lion National Puppet Art Festival in 2008 and 2012 respectively. Her work was also highly prized in Russia where she was awarded “The Best Performance” from the 2nd Omsk Arlekin International Puppet Art Festival. This was followed by an exclusive interview with the chief correspondent of the Wenhui Daily newspaper where she featured on the front page in June of the same year. The following year, she was included in the book “Shanghai New Artist List of Culture”, featuring the top talents in various artistic disciplines. She received the “2012 Shanghai Outstanding Arts Worker Award” and won the “Asian Cultural Council Scholarship” from the Rockefeller foundation of America, subsequently visiting New York in an exchange project as a puppetry artist.
In January 2015, she participated in “Songshan Shifang Jingshe” Calligraphy and Painting with “The Wind From The Mountain Song” (Today Art Museum Beijing), and was included in the album “Mountain Wind” published in “Dunhuang Art” magazine, “Master Oriental Art” in the same year.
Her major theatre works include: “Mr. Big” puppetry director (Beijing, Wuzhen), “Ni Chang Yu Yi” creation and solo (New York), “Mulan” creation and lead (O’Neill Theatre Center, New York), “Bread and Puppet Theater Festival” puppeteer (Vermont USA), “Shanghai Puppet Theatre”, Shanghai-Theaters and Arts Festivals at home and abroad. Independent works include: “Mountain Beast” The Wind From The Mountain Song group exhibition in Songshan in China, “Scarecrow” The Wind From The Mountain Song group exhibition in Pig’s Inn Bishan in China, “Hillbillies” Henan Xinyang in China.
On 1 April 2019, she established the “Puppeteer Studio”. Puppet theatre in China originated in the Han Dynasty (202 BC) reaching its heyday in the Tang Dynasty (907 BC). With such a long history the playing style is varied and demanding. The Puppeteer Studio however, is dedicated to the research and development of contemporary puppetry.
Folk Iron Rod Puppet Play in China
Folk art is a sunken ship in the abyss of oblivion, full of unknown treasures.
In this seminar, Shasha Li will focus on sharing the process and feelings of the research on the art of traditional Chinese Tiezhi puppets.
