The Ancient Kyrgyz Puppet Theater Where Dancing Mountain Goats Are Stars
- By Current Time,
- Asia 360 and
- Will Tizard
A Kyrgyz artist is keeping alive a puppet theater tradition that dates back centuries. Esenbek Mairykov, 71, learned to carve his dancing mountain goats from his grandfather and hopes to pass on the art, known as tak-teke, to future generations. His family has also made the komuz three-string instruments that inspire the little goats to move along miniature escarpments.