Tall Horse

Tall Horse, a collaboration between the Handspring Puppet Company and the Sogolon Troupe from Mali with its puppets made by Yaya Coulibaly. Writer Kephra Burns, based in New York, choreographer Koffi Kôkô from Benin. Director Marthinus Basson. Musical director Warrick Sony, graphics animator Jaco Bouwer. An exciting element of the production is the blending of two puppetry traditions: the Handspring mode based in lifelike realism and the stylised , ritually-resonant effigies of West Africa.

Performed at various venues in South Africa in 2004 and 2005, also travelled to Germany's Festival du Welt and toured in the United States, 2005.

Tall Horse's tale follows the life of a giraffe and its handler, Atir, sent as a gift from the Egyptian Pasha to the French King Charles X in 1827. Its journey took it via Alexandria and Marseilles, creating a sensation en route. The story of this journey is told using a combination of life-sized puppets, live actors, costumes, music, video projection and dance. Sponsored by AngloGold Ashanti and Business Arts South Africa (BASA).

Sources

This Day, 7 and 14 September 2004

Sunday Independent, 21 August 2005

Business Day, 5 May 2005

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