Myanmar's puppet dance is a kind of dance performed by people by imitating the movements of puppets. Since the puppet is the object of imitation, the dancers are required to have a high degree of flexibility and coordination in their movements. It was originally a dance to honor ancestors, expressing the world's longing for the deceased and hoping to be blessed by ghosts and gods. Early puppetry was performed by people holding strings, puppets were pulled by strings, and the actors performed the drama by swinging the puppets. The puppets were more than 1 meter high, and initially, there were 13 strings on the puppets, which later developed to more than 60. During the dance performance, the puppet's fingers, joints, head and neck, eyes, jaws and toes can be danced at will, and the degree of flexibility and realism is extremely high. According to historical records, by the time of the Ava Dynasty (1364-1555 AD), Burmese theater had already formed a unique style. Puppetry was the only ancient Burmese theater that could be performed on a high stage, so it was also known as "high theater", which appeared in the 15th century. Burmese puppets are marionettes, which are said to have been imported from southern China, or to have been pioneered by U Tho, the minister of theater during the Kampung dynasty's King Bo Daw Paya. Traditionally there are 28 idols with figures of animals, gods and emperors. In the beginning, there was only a white screen with no props. The puppeteer and the singer were shared by two people. The performance was divided into three parts, first performing the opening of the heavens and the animal dance. Secondly, they perform the activities in the palace, the prince and princess fall in love, etc. Lastly, they perform the story of Buddha's birth or the story of his own life. Finally, they perform the story of the Buddha's birth or a play written by themselves. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, female actors appeared on the puppet stage and the number of idols increased. The stout and strange Fang Xiang is the earliest puppet. Puppets can be up to one or two feet tall. In Burma, you can set up a stage to perform in the palace, while people acting can only be in the flat ground, taller than the emperor is not allowed. So the puppet imitated the man to the man imitated the puppet, which is especially common in Burma and Thailand. Thus the puppet dance evolved with the times.
Myanmar puppet theater still maintains the rituals of honoring Buddha before the stage, that is, in the field facing the audience neutral a wooden pole, wrapped with coconut branches, cherry branches, another bamboo pole, hanging lamps on the back side of a horizontal pole, hanging props and costumes, the virtual space to set up the monks temple, the Golden Palace, the Princess of the bedchamber, and so on, obviously by the influence of the ancient religious traditions of the theater performances.
Puppet theater is generally accompanied by dance performances or mass singing and dancing activities. According to "Myanmar Classical Folk Dance", "Myanmar dance has a long history with ancient traditions, which is produced from Myanmar puppet theater, classical drama and classical arts such as the Aying Dance Myanmar dance has a long history with ancient traditions." The Thirty-Seven Divine Dances gave rise to divine songs in the worship of these deities. The Thirty-Seven Divine Dances are dances created according to the identity, history and merits of the gods celebrated in each divine song after the Thirty-Seven Divine Songs were produced in the middle of the Kampung Dynasty. As the 37 Dances of the Gods are difficult to perform, they include soft dances, healthy dances, and skillful dances. As a result, it is now rare to find a goddess who can perform the complete Thirty-Seven Divine Dances in rural worship ceremonies."
Some experts and scholars believe that both classical Burmese theater dances and folk dances are closely related to the Burmese theater culture.After the Thirty-Seven Divine Songs arose from the Burmese literary scene in the 16th century, different dances were choreographed for each of the gods in the 18th century under the Kampong Pang dynasty, forming a systematic and complete set of dances for entertaining the gods. Through the spreading of folk dancing and worshiping of the gods, it developed into the court puppet theater. Later, some programs in the puppet show and different dance movements of various puppet characters were transplanted to modern Burmese dances in large numbers. For example, the Worship Dance, the Immortal Dance, the Diallo Dance, and the Male and Female Puppet Dance. Among them, the Worship Dance is renamed as the Palace Maiden Dance, which has become the opening program of modern Burmese drama and dance performances, and the "puppet step" and "puppet crawling and jumping" of the puppet dance have become the basic movements of modern Burmese dances. The ancient drum dance derived from rice field labor, the "37 Dances of the Gods" and the "Doyeya Dance" derived from Buddhist stories and traditional religions are the forerunners of contemporary Burmese dances.
The Golem Dance requires the symmetry of the hands and feet to resemble the shape of the golem; the movements are continuous with fewer rests and rhythms. The dance posture is calm and elegant, the rhythm of the movement is sharp and soft, especially the requirement of hand shape and hand position is extremely precise. The dancer's hairstyle is called water hair.