The wife of General Secretary To Lam and the wife of the First Secretary and President of Cuba enjoy water puppetry and visit Ngoc Son Temple.

On the morning of September 1, within the framework of the state visit to Vietnam, attending the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day September 2 of the First Secretary and President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez and his wife, Ms. Ngo Phuong Ly, wife of General Secretary To Lam and Ms. Lis Cuesta Peraza, wife of the First Secretary and President of Cuba enjoyed water puppetry at the Thang Long Puppetry Theater (Dinh Tien Hoang Street, Hanoi ).

Accompanying the two ladies was a Vietnamese girl whose father is Vietnamese and mother is Cuban. She was born and raised in Cuba.

In the main hall, Ms. Lis Cuesta Peraza was introduced to water puppets and how to control them by the theater's director.

Mrs. Ngo Phuong Ly, Wife of the General Secretary, welcomed Mrs. Lis Cuesta Peraza, Wife of the First Secretary and President of Cuba.

At the beginning of the puppet show, the male and female performers held trays of betel leaves and sang the tune "Inviting water, inviting betel leaves" to welcome the two ladies to the theater. The two ladies enjoyed some of the performances from the treasure trove of nearly 400 Vietnamese water puppetry stories performed by the artists such as: "Teu giao tro, Bat co hoi", "Mua rong", "Mua phuong", "Mua tien", "Vinh quy bai to"...

Water puppetry was born from the wet rice civilization, is a folk art form, bearing the creative imprint of the Vietnamese people. Water puppetry has its own position in the national theater and attracts foreign tourists every time they visit Vietnam.

The wife of the First Secretary and President of Cuba learns about water puppets.

The theater presented the First Secretary and President of Cuba's wife with a puppet "Uncle Teu", and the little girl was given a puppet "Fairy".

Water puppetry uses the water surface as a stage (water pavilion), decorated with flags, fans, parasols, and gates. The puppets (made of wood) move thanks to the control of people behind the curtain. Adding to the lively atmosphere of the performance are artists playing traditional musical instruments and singing Cheo on both sides.

At the end of the performance, when the artists - half underwater - stepped out of the curtain, the two Ladies gave applause, flowers and compliments to the performances.

The performance "Offer water, offer betel" opens the puppet show.

The General Secretary's wife introduces betel leaves wrapped in phoenix wings to the First Secretary and President of Cuba's wife.

The two ladies enjoyed the water puppet show.

Ms. Lis Cuesta Peraza and the members of the Cuban delegation were touched and honored to be warmly welcomed by Ms. Ngo Phuong Ly and the puppet theater artists. The wife of the First Secretary and President of Cuba expressed her gratitude for being able to better understand the art of water puppetry, which is imbued with the cultural identity of Vietnam. She truly felt the dedication of the artists in preserving and developing this art form.

She hopes that in the future Vietnamese puppeteers will have the opportunity to visit Cuba and introduce and perform this art form to the Cuban people.

The wife of General Secretary To Lam shared her fond memories of her visit to Cuba in September 2024 when she and the wife of the First Secretary and President of Cuba visited the El Arca Puppet Theater and Museum. Both countries have unique puppetry art forms. And today, the wife of the General Secretary had the opportunity to re-introduce to Ms. Lis Cuesta Peraza the art of Vietnamese water puppetry.

Ms. Ngo Phuong Ly hopes that in her next visits to Vietnam, Ms. Lis Cuesta Peraza will enjoy and learn more about Vietnamese puppetry.

Ms. Lis Cuesta Peraza thanked and congratulated the artists for their elaborate and unique performance.

Next, the two ladies walked from the theater to visit Ngoc Son Temple - a special national historical and cultural relic. Today is the National Day holiday, the walking street around Hoan Kiem Lake has thousands of people and tourists coming to have fun and visit.

In the cool autumn weather, the two ladies appeared close, constantly smiling and waving to the people. In response, there were applauses and chants of "Vietnam - Cuba" from the people along the streets welcoming the two ladies.

Mrs. Ngo Phuong Ly and Mrs. Lis Cuesta Peraza visited Ngoc Son Temple. Stopping at The Huc Bridge, the two ladies admired the Turtle Tower and the streets of Hanoi.

The two ladies offered incense in the main temple, visited, listened to explanations about the history and legend of Hoan Kiem Lake, and learned about the turtle specimen displayed in the temple.

Notably, here, the First Secretary and President of Cuba's wife was given the calligraphy "Binh An" by a teacher.

At the end of the visit, Ms. Lis Cuesta Peraza once again thanked Ms. Ngo Phuong Ly and the staff of the relic site for their warm and thoughtful reception. The visit of the two ladies left many deep impressions, contributing to strengthening the friendship and connection, cultural exchange between the two countries.

The two ladies waved to people and tourists at Hoan Kiem Lake walking street.

People joyfully welcomed the two ladies, continuously chanting "Vietnam - Cuba".

Two ladies on The Huc bridge looking at Turtle Tower and the streets of the capital.

The two ladies and the delegation offered incense at Ngoc Son Temple.

Calligraphers present calligraphy to the wife of the First Secretary and President of Cuba.

Two ladies look at the turtle specimen of Hoan Kiem Lake.

Wife of General Secretary To Lam and Wife of First Secretary and President of Cuba.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/phu-nhan-tong-bi-thu-to-lam-va-phu-nhan-bi-thu-thu-nhat-chu-tich-nuoc-cuba-thuong-thuc-mua-roi-nuoc-tham-quan-den-ngoc-son-10305683.html